BROTHERS GOALED IN INTERNATIONAL TAX INVESTIGATION

16 May 2002 03:14 PM

Brothers Sewa Singh Gill (52) and Paramjit Singh Gill (39) both of Bisterne Avenue, Walthamstow received jail sentences of three years and twenty months respectively at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday.

The sentencing followed a ten week trial, also at the Crown Court, at which both were found guilty on a variety of charges of cheating the public purse. The charges followed an investigation by Inland Revenue Special Compliance Officers into a business called "Club Tropicana", which manufactures and sells sports and leisurewear and also rents out commercial property and snooker halls.

Although the brothers were given the opportunity to make a full disclosure in respect of their tax affairs, they continued to conceal the true position.

During the course of the investigation, special compliance officers travelled to India and with the full and excellent co-operation of the Indian police interviewed a number of witnesses in Punjab including two village headmen, who travelled to the U.K. to give evidence in the trial.

The frauds covered a period from February 1982 to April 1993. In gaoling the brothers, His Honour Judge Bing commented: "I consider that these offences are serious and are a fraud on honest taxpayers. I have taken into account the period of time these offences cover and the great efforts made by you to conceal them."

The Inland revenue will also seek to recover the benefit that the brothers obtained from the fraud at a Confiscation Hearing scheduled for 27 August.

The tax and interest lost to the Inland Revenue as a result of these offences totalled over £500,000.

DETAILS

During the course of an enquiry, the brothers failed to report details of bank accounts and interest received on those accounts in Jersey and Switzerland. The Special Compliance Office investigation focused on the brother's denials of these bank accounts and their signing of false statements. These formed the basis of the charges on the indictment.

At the trial, the prosecution alleged that deposits totalling £660,000 into the offshore accounts arose from unrecorded business receipts of Club Tropicana. The defence argued that deposits arose from farming income in India, the evidence of the head tribesmen from Punjab helped to rebut this argument.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

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London WC2R 1LB
Media enquiries: 020 7438 6692 / 6706 / 7327 / 7356
Non-media enquiries: your own tax office or 020 7438 6420 Web: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk

16th. May 2002