Further Fraudster Sentenced In £17million VAT Fraud

The sixth member of an organised crime gang was sentenced today for his part in a plot to steal £17m of taxpayer’s money in a complicated ‘missing trader’ VAT fraud.

Five men were jailed last Friday for 15 years. A further ten defendants have been charged and are due to stand trial next year.

Cameron Charles Thurston, a dual South African/British national of Redhill, Surrey, was sentenced to a three year community order and disqualified from being a company director for four years.

In sentencing Thurston, His Honour Judge Gledhill commented: “I would normally consider sentencing you to three years in jail as a result of your early guilty plea. However, since your arrest you suffered an acute psychotic episode and blinded yourself. This sentence should not be taken as any precedence to any other defendants in this trial, it is purely due to your unique circumstances.”

Criminal investigators from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) smashed the multi million pound fraud, centred on the mobile phone industry. VAT claims to steal a further £5m had been made, but these were stopped from being paid. Paperwork recovered during house searches showed that the gang were planning on a further fraud to steal an additional £300m of VAT from the public purse - this plot was foiled.

Gary Lampon, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC said: “This was a complex and lengthy investigation, over four and a half years, to unravel this multi million pound fraud by an organised crime gang. They used the money to fund extravagant lifestyles at the expense of the British taxpayer. ‘Missing trader’ fraud is not merely a paper fraud, it funds other serious crime and we are determined to pursue and bring to justice the criminals behind this type of fraud. Assets of £8m have so far been restrained and confiscation proceedings are underway to reclaim the proceeds.”

The gang used the proceeds of their crime to purchase high value items in cash including:

• Several UK properties worth over £1m each
• Performance cars including a Rolls Royce Phantom for £250,000 and a Ferrari for £165,000
• A property in Spain valued at over £1million

The HMRC operation involved investigations in China, Taiwan, India, Italy, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. HMRC investigators worked with overseas officials to follow the trail of money that had been illegally diverted out of the UK in a bid to avoid detection.

(BMcN/GK)