‘These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over £765m,’ says Exchequer Secretary
HMRC has published for the first time photographs and details of what it has described as ‘tax dodgers’ crimes’, in an appeal for help in finding the UK’s ‘most wanted tax fugitives’.
‘The Most Wanted are tax criminals who have absconded after being charged with a crime or during trial,’ HMRC said in a press release, adding that tax evasion and fraud cost the taxpayer around £10bn.
David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, said: ‘The government is absolutely committed to tackling tax evasion and fraud. These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over £765m and HMRC will pursue them relentlessly. We hope that publishing their pictures in this way will enable members of the public to contribute to the effort to catch them.’
Details – reproduced below – and photographs of HMRC’s ‘Top 20 Most Wanted’ are set out on HMRC’s Flickr pages. Leads may be reported via HMRC’s Customs, Excise and VAT fraud reporting hotline on 0800 595 000 or via the Crimestoppers website.
Name: Hussain Asad Chohan
Region: West Midlands
Court where warrant was issued: Birmingham Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Dubai
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £200 million
Bio: Smuggler and fraudster, Hussain Chohan, is wanted after failing to appear in court for his part in an estimated £200 million fraud. Among other offences, Chohan imported 2.25 tonnes of tobacco worth £750,000 in duty alone. Chohan was tried in absence and found guilty. He received a total of 11 years in prison for smuggling and fraud offences and failing to appear in court. Along with his sentence Chohan has also been served with a £33 million confiscation order.
Name: Nasser Ahmed
Region: South West
Court where warrant was issued: Bristol Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Pakistan / Dubai
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £156 million
Bio: Nasser Ahmed is wanted for his role in a large scale VAT fraud in the region of £156 million. Ahmed fled from court prior to verdict in February 2005. He was sentenced to six years in his absence in March 2005 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Name: Zafar Baidar Chisthi
Region: Greater London
Court where warrant was issued: Kingston on Thames Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Pakistan
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £150 million
Bio: Zafar Chisthi is wanted for his part in a large scale VAT fraud worth around £150 million. Chisthi failed to appear in court after being released on bail and was tried in absence and found guilty. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud the public purse and one year for perverting the course of justice.
Name: Darsim Abdullah
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Guildford Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Iraq
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £24 million
Bio: Darsim Abdullah was part of a 12 man crime group that laundered between £1 million and £4 million a month from the proceeds of crime. Eleven members of the group either were found or pleaded guilty to the offence but Darsim absconded before sentencing.
Name: Leigang Liang
Region: South
Court where warrant was issued: Lewes Crown Court
Country believed to be in: UK
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £2.6 million
Bio: In October 2010 HMRC and UKBA worked together to intercept 650 kilos of harmful counterfeit tobacco, 300,000 cigarettes and 5 tonnes of hand rolling tobacco which was imported illegally from China. Leigang Liang was the key player in this operation and his gang was arrested, tried and unanimously found guilty. Liang fled the court before the jury found him guilty. He was sentenced in absence to seven years.
Name: Olutayo Owolabi
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Wood Green Crown Court
Country believed to be in: UK
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £1 million
Bio: Olutayo Owolabi is still at large for 27 offences relating to tax credits and money laundering. In January 2010 Owalabi was convicted in absence and sentenced to nine months.
Name: Wayne Joseph Hardy
Region: Midlands
Court where warrant was issued: Ipswich Crown Court
Country believed to be in: South Africa
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £1.9 million
Bio: Wayne Hardy and others conspired to cheat the public purse through tax fraud on tobacco products. Hardy assisted in sourcing a tobacco manufacturing and rolling machine and smuggling almost 16 tonnes of raw leaf tobacco into the UK. Hardy absconded before trial but was found guilty in absence and received a three-year sentence in October 2011.
Name: Adam Umerji aka Shafiq Patel
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Liverpool Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Dubai
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £64 million
Bio: Adam Umerji is a wanted fraudster who stole an estimated £64 million from the UK tax payer. Umerji was tried in absence where he received a 12 year sentence for VAT fraud and five years for money laundering offences.
Name: Gordon Arthur
Region: North West/Scotland
Court where warrant was issued: Maidstone Crown Court
Country believed to be in: USA
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £15 million
Bio: In March 1999 UK Customs detected seven million illegally imported cigarettes with a duty and VAT value over £1.1 million. A further 21 seizures of alcohol and tobacco were identified which can be attributed to Arthur with a duty value exceeding £5.5 million and a revenue loss nearer £15 million. In February 2000 Gordon Arthur broke his bail conditions and absconded; a warrant for his arrest was issued in June 2002.
Name: Emma Elizabeth Tazey
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Maidstone Crown Court
Country believed to be in: USA
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £15 million
Bio: Tazey is wanted in connection with Gordon Arthur, another on the Most Wanted list. In March 1999 UK Customs detected 7 million illegally imported cigarettes with a duty and VAT value £1.16 million. A further 21 seizures of alcohol and tobacco were identified which can be attributed to Arthur with a duty value exceeding £5.5 million and a revenue loss nearer £15 million. In February 2000 Tazey broke her bail conditions and absconded; a warrant for her arrest was issued.
Name: John Nugent
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Manchester Crown Court
Country believed to be in: USA
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £22 million
Bio: John Nugent fraudulently claimed more than £22 million in duty and VAT reclaims. Nugent was arrested and bailed, but he failed to appear in court and fled abroad. He is suspected to be in the US.
Name: Malcolm McGregor McGowan
Region: Midlands/Scotland
Court where warrant was issued: Sheffield Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Spain
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £16 million
Bio: Between November 1999 and March 2000, Malcolm McGowan was involved in illegally importing 56.6 thousand cigarettes, which in today’s market has a street value of more than £16 million. Malcolm and others went on trial in September 2001 where he pleaded not guilty, but before the trial ended McGowan fled abroad. In December 2011 McGowan was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to four years imprisonment. He was last believed to have [been] seen in Spain.
Name: Timur Mehmet
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Northampton Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Cyprus
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £25 million
Bio: Timur Mehmet is wanted for his role in a large scale VAT fraud worth around £25 million. Mehmet absconded pre-trial in January 2008, but was found guilty in absence and sentenced to eight years.
Name: Vladimir Jeriomin
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Liverpool Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Russia / Lithuania
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £4.8 million
Bio: Jeriomin was a member of an organised crime group that defrauded the public purse by making fraudulent claims for Income Tax Self Assessment repayments. The estimated loss of public money is thought to be £2 million. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Jeriomin after he failed to surrender.
Name: Cesare Selvini
Region: Non UK
Court where warrant was issued: Dover Magistrates Court
Country believed to be in: Switzerland
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £600,000
Bio: Cesare Selvini is wanted for concealing and smuggling platinum bars, thought to be worth around £600,000. Selvini failed to appear in court in June 2005 so a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Name: Dimitri Gaskov
Region: Non UK
Court where warrant was issued: Ipswich Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Estonia
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £197,000
Bio: Gaskov was part of a gang which concealed and smuggled an estimated three million cigarettes into the UK using desk top computers. After a long investigation Gaskov fled before the trial.
Name: Mohamed Sami Kaak
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Isleworth Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Tunisia
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £822,000
Bio: Between March 2005 and September 2006, Mohamed Sami Kaak smuggled nearly 4 million cigarettes into the UK evading an estimated £822,000 in duty. Kaak was arrested and charged with 12 counts of conspiracy to fraudulently evade Customs duty. He failed to appear in court in June 2008 so a warrant was raised for his arrest. Kaak was tried in absence where he received a four year sentence.
Name: Rory Martin McGann
Region: Northern Ireland/ EIRE
Court where warrant was issued: Belfast Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Ireland
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £902,000
Bio: Rory McGann is wanted for VAT offences amounting to over £902,000. McGann was arrested in the Ireland and appeared in court in November 2008. He received bail to reappear in December 2009 and never returned.
Name: Yehuda Cohen
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)
Country believed to be in: Israel
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £800k
Bio: For a number of years Yehuda Cohen ran two companies with the intention to defraud HMRC by committing VAT fraud worth approximately £800k. In March 2011 Cohen was arrested at London Heathrow and later bailed but failed to return to court and is still on the run.
Name: Sahil Jain
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)
Country believed to be in: UK
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £328,000
Bio: Jain was arrested in connection to VAT Fraud of around £328,000. He failed to appear at the Central Criminal Court and a warrant was issued for his arrest on 8 June 2012.
Source: HMRC press release 16 August 2012
‘These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over £765m,’ says Exchequer Secretary
HMRC has published for the first time photographs and details of what it has described as ‘tax dodgers’ crimes’, in an appeal for help in finding the UK’s ‘most wanted tax fugitives’.
‘The Most Wanted are tax criminals who have absconded after being charged with a crime or during trial,’ HMRC said in a press release, adding that tax evasion and fraud cost the taxpayer around £10bn.
David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, said: ‘The government is absolutely committed to tackling tax evasion and fraud. These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over £765m and HMRC will pursue them relentlessly. We hope that publishing their pictures in this way will enable members of the public to contribute to the effort to catch them.’
Details – reproduced below – and photographs of HMRC’s ‘Top 20 Most Wanted’ are set out on HMRC’s Flickr pages. Leads may be reported via HMRC’s Customs, Excise and VAT fraud reporting hotline on 0800 595 000 or via the Crimestoppers website.
Name: Hussain Asad Chohan
Region: West Midlands
Court where warrant was issued: Birmingham Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Dubai
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £200 million
Bio: Smuggler and fraudster, Hussain Chohan, is wanted after failing to appear in court for his part in an estimated £200 million fraud. Among other offences, Chohan imported 2.25 tonnes of tobacco worth £750,000 in duty alone. Chohan was tried in absence and found guilty. He received a total of 11 years in prison for smuggling and fraud offences and failing to appear in court. Along with his sentence Chohan has also been served with a £33 million confiscation order.
Name: Nasser Ahmed
Region: South West
Court where warrant was issued: Bristol Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Pakistan / Dubai
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £156 million
Bio: Nasser Ahmed is wanted for his role in a large scale VAT fraud in the region of £156 million. Ahmed fled from court prior to verdict in February 2005. He was sentenced to six years in his absence in March 2005 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Name: Zafar Baidar Chisthi
Region: Greater London
Court where warrant was issued: Kingston on Thames Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Pakistan
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £150 million
Bio: Zafar Chisthi is wanted for his part in a large scale VAT fraud worth around £150 million. Chisthi failed to appear in court after being released on bail and was tried in absence and found guilty. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud the public purse and one year for perverting the course of justice.
Name: Darsim Abdullah
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Guildford Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Iraq
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £24 million
Bio: Darsim Abdullah was part of a 12 man crime group that laundered between £1 million and £4 million a month from the proceeds of crime. Eleven members of the group either were found or pleaded guilty to the offence but Darsim absconded before sentencing.
Name: Leigang Liang
Region: South
Court where warrant was issued: Lewes Crown Court
Country believed to be in: UK
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £2.6 million
Bio: In October 2010 HMRC and UKBA worked together to intercept 650 kilos of harmful counterfeit tobacco, 300,000 cigarettes and 5 tonnes of hand rolling tobacco which was imported illegally from China. Leigang Liang was the key player in this operation and his gang was arrested, tried and unanimously found guilty. Liang fled the court before the jury found him guilty. He was sentenced in absence to seven years.
Name: Olutayo Owolabi
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Wood Green Crown Court
Country believed to be in: UK
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £1 million
Bio: Olutayo Owolabi is still at large for 27 offences relating to tax credits and money laundering. In January 2010 Owalabi was convicted in absence and sentenced to nine months.
Name: Wayne Joseph Hardy
Region: Midlands
Court where warrant was issued: Ipswich Crown Court
Country believed to be in: South Africa
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £1.9 million
Bio: Wayne Hardy and others conspired to cheat the public purse through tax fraud on tobacco products. Hardy assisted in sourcing a tobacco manufacturing and rolling machine and smuggling almost 16 tonnes of raw leaf tobacco into the UK. Hardy absconded before trial but was found guilty in absence and received a three-year sentence in October 2011.
Name: Adam Umerji aka Shafiq Patel
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Liverpool Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Dubai
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £64 million
Bio: Adam Umerji is a wanted fraudster who stole an estimated £64 million from the UK tax payer. Umerji was tried in absence where he received a 12 year sentence for VAT fraud and five years for money laundering offences.
Name: Gordon Arthur
Region: North West/Scotland
Court where warrant was issued: Maidstone Crown Court
Country believed to be in: USA
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £15 million
Bio: In March 1999 UK Customs detected seven million illegally imported cigarettes with a duty and VAT value over £1.1 million. A further 21 seizures of alcohol and tobacco were identified which can be attributed to Arthur with a duty value exceeding £5.5 million and a revenue loss nearer £15 million. In February 2000 Gordon Arthur broke his bail conditions and absconded; a warrant for his arrest was issued in June 2002.
Name: Emma Elizabeth Tazey
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Maidstone Crown Court
Country believed to be in: USA
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £15 million
Bio: Tazey is wanted in connection with Gordon Arthur, another on the Most Wanted list. In March 1999 UK Customs detected 7 million illegally imported cigarettes with a duty and VAT value £1.16 million. A further 21 seizures of alcohol and tobacco were identified which can be attributed to Arthur with a duty value exceeding £5.5 million and a revenue loss nearer £15 million. In February 2000 Tazey broke her bail conditions and absconded; a warrant for her arrest was issued.
Name: John Nugent
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Manchester Crown Court
Country believed to be in: USA
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £22 million
Bio: John Nugent fraudulently claimed more than £22 million in duty and VAT reclaims. Nugent was arrested and bailed, but he failed to appear in court and fled abroad. He is suspected to be in the US.
Name: Malcolm McGregor McGowan
Region: Midlands/Scotland
Court where warrant was issued: Sheffield Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Spain
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £16 million
Bio: Between November 1999 and March 2000, Malcolm McGowan was involved in illegally importing 56.6 thousand cigarettes, which in today’s market has a street value of more than £16 million. Malcolm and others went on trial in September 2001 where he pleaded not guilty, but before the trial ended McGowan fled abroad. In December 2011 McGowan was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to four years imprisonment. He was last believed to have [been] seen in Spain.
Name: Timur Mehmet
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Northampton Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Cyprus
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £25 million
Bio: Timur Mehmet is wanted for his role in a large scale VAT fraud worth around £25 million. Mehmet absconded pre-trial in January 2008, but was found guilty in absence and sentenced to eight years.
Name: Vladimir Jeriomin
Region: North West
Court where warrant was issued: Liverpool Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Russia / Lithuania
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £4.8 million
Bio: Jeriomin was a member of an organised crime group that defrauded the public purse by making fraudulent claims for Income Tax Self Assessment repayments. The estimated loss of public money is thought to be £2 million. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Jeriomin after he failed to surrender.
Name: Cesare Selvini
Region: Non UK
Court where warrant was issued: Dover Magistrates Court
Country believed to be in: Switzerland
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £600,000
Bio: Cesare Selvini is wanted for concealing and smuggling platinum bars, thought to be worth around £600,000. Selvini failed to appear in court in June 2005 so a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Name: Dimitri Gaskov
Region: Non UK
Court where warrant was issued: Ipswich Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Estonia
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £197,000
Bio: Gaskov was part of a gang which concealed and smuggled an estimated three million cigarettes into the UK using desk top computers. After a long investigation Gaskov fled before the trial.
Name: Mohamed Sami Kaak
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Isleworth Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Tunisia
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £822,000
Bio: Between March 2005 and September 2006, Mohamed Sami Kaak smuggled nearly 4 million cigarettes into the UK evading an estimated £822,000 in duty. Kaak was arrested and charged with 12 counts of conspiracy to fraudulently evade Customs duty. He failed to appear in court in June 2008 so a warrant was raised for his arrest. Kaak was tried in absence where he received a four year sentence.
Name: Rory Martin McGann
Region: Northern Ireland/ EIRE
Court where warrant was issued: Belfast Crown Court
Country believed to be in: Ireland
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £902,000
Bio: Rory McGann is wanted for VAT offences amounting to over £902,000. McGann was arrested in the Ireland and appeared in court in November 2008. He received bail to reappear in December 2009 and never returned.
Name: Yehuda Cohen
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)
Country believed to be in: Israel
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £800k
Bio: For a number of years Yehuda Cohen ran two companies with the intention to defraud HMRC by committing VAT fraud worth approximately £800k. In March 2011 Cohen was arrested at London Heathrow and later bailed but failed to return to court and is still on the run.
Name: Sahil Jain
Region: London
Court where warrant was issued: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)
Country believed to be in: UK
Estimated cost to taxpayer: £328,000
Bio: Jain was arrested in connection to VAT Fraud of around £328,000. He failed to appear at the Central Criminal Court and a warrant was issued for his arrest on 8 June 2012.
Source: HMRC press release 16 August 2012
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