News Release issued by
the COI News Distribution Service on 30 September 2011
The leader of a
gang of six criminals involved in stealing a £1.8 million in
excise duty has been jailed today following a complex
investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) into the sale
of illicit alcohol.
The gang, masterminded by Paramjit “Pete” Bagri, from Holywell,
North Wales, bought alcohol from legitimate bonded warehouses
under the pretence of shipping them to the continent. They then
illegally diverted the shipments to various locations within the
UK, selling on the drink without paying the duty owed.
Mike O’Grady, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for
HMRC, said:
“This was a calculated attempt to defraud the public purse and to
personally profit from the illegal trade. HMRC is committed to
protecting public finances from attacks by organised crime, and
the extra £917 million invested in HMRC will help us step up this
fight. Anyone with information relating to this type of crime
should contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000 to help us
stamp it out.”
Gang members Richard “Gerry” Ellis, 52, and Mohammed Ajmal Tariq,
51, are both currently in prison following convictions in July
2011 for their parts in the fraud. Ellis, a former pub landlord,
ran a logistics company which collected the consignments of
alcohol. He had paid a £120,000 ‘movement guarantee’ to HMRC
allowing him to legally move alcohol between bonded warehouses
which he abused in order to illegally divert the shipments without
arousing suspicion. Tariq ran Direct Plus Distribution which dealt
in the supply and sale of alcohol – he was linked to at least six
alcohol diversions stealing well over £600,000 from the public purse.
On sentencing, His Honour Judge Steiger said:
“This was an ingenious and complex fraud and I am satisfied
that Bagri was top of the tree".
Bagri and three men, Nadim Iqbal, Mohammed Vaqas and Baldeep
Singh Tahkar, pleaded guilty before the start of their trial.
Richard Gerrard Ellis and Mohammed Tariq were found guilty by a
jury at Manchester Crown Court in June 2011.
Confiscation proceedings are now underway involving the analysis
of how key figures in the gang attempted to evade taxes and hide
the cash gained from their illegal trade. The evaded UK duty alone
was given as over £1,799,448 in court. However, the confiscation
will look to determine other tax evasion and criminal benefits
associated with their activities.
Notes to editors
1. Individual details:
Paramjit Bagri (DOB 10/07/66) of 2 Holway Road, Holywell,
Flintshire, CH8 7NH (previously of Birkenhead, Wirral) was
sentenced on 30 September 2011 to 66 months. Bagri was the ‘master
mind’ behind the conspiracy. He was a co-director of MF Beers and
Minerals based in Warrington, Cheshire. The company was involved
in the wholesale distribution of beers, wines and spirits but has
now ceased trading. Bagri was also a director of Global
Distribution GB Ltd also based in Warrington. Separately, Bagri
pleaded guilty to a charge concerning the attempted illegal
importation of 9 million cigarettes (a potential tax loss of over
£1.4 million) in December 2007 and was sentenced to 42months for
that to run concurrently.
Richard Gerrard Ellis (DOB 08/08/1964) of Mauldeth Road West,
Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7SP. Former landlord of the
now closed Southern Public House. Following an 11-week trial Ellis
and Tariq were found guilty of conspiring with the others. Ellis
was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to five years in jail and upon his
release he will be subject to a five-year director’s
disqualification. Ellis operated a transport company, JJC
Logistics Ltd based in Salford, Manchester that collected alcohol
consignments in the UK then altered the delivery destination once
the goods were on board his trucks. When arrested in 2007 Ellis
had 29 mobile phones in his possession. In court his claims not to
be an ‘organiser or professional smuggler’ were rejected by the judge.
Mohammed Ajmal Tariq (DOB 09/10/64) of Post Office House, Main
Street, Westfield, Bathgate, Scotland EH48 3BU was sentenced on 8
July 2011 to five years in jail and a seven-year directors
disqualification. Tariq was one of the principle purchasers of
alcohol consignments in the Aberdeen area destined for European
clients, such as in Spain and Estonia, which were then
deliberately diverted to the illegal network. Samples of the
missing alcohol were found on sale in Glasgow. In court he was
described as having a ‘veneer of respectability as an honest
businessman when he was anything but’.
Nadim Iqbal (DOB 24/10/73) of 24 Netherfield Close, Oldham,
Greater Manchester was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to 21 months in
jail. Iqbal was one of the ‘minders’ or ‘muscle’ employed by the
gang who oversaw the storage of the diverted consignments – some
traced by HMRC to the Rochdale and Bolton areas. In court he was
described as ‘no stranger to dishonesty or violence’ and linked to
at least two seizures, however his early plea was taken into
consideration for sentencing.
Mohammed Vaqas (DOB 05/01/1983) of of 63 Derby Street, Rochdale,
Greater Manchester was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to 51 weeks in
jail suspended for 12 months plus 180 hours unpaid community work
to be actioned in the next 12 months and has to pay £1,500 in
costs within 18 months. Vaqas was described in court as the ‘tail
end of the tail-end Charlies’ and was found to have had a lesser
role as another one of the ‘minders’ or ‘muscle’ employed by the
gang linked to the storage of the diverted consignments traced by
HMRC and linked to only one seizure.
Baldeep Singh Tahkar of Billingham, Cleveland was sentenced on 14
July 2011 to 16 months. He was the owner of Tiger Beers and Wines
based in Stockton upon Tees and he was the co-owner of two shops:
Booze For You in Billingham and Lifestyle Express in Hartlepool.
2. The case was called Operation Installbox, and was an
investigation into the diversion of commercial quantities of
non-UK duty paid (bonded) alcohol. This is a form of fraud on the
supposed export of alcohol from bonded warehouses in the UK to
bonded warehouses in Europe. A bonded warehouse is a building in
which dutiable goods can be legally stored, manipulated, or
undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. However,
the goods never leave the country but are diverted and temporarily
stored at other locations for illegal sale within the UK. On other
occasions alcohol products imported from Europe supposed to be
destined for the UK legitimate market were also illegally diverted
in transit without duty being paid. Some of the significant
seizures of diverted alcohol were made in the Knowsley area in
Merseyside, Bolton and Rochdale in Greater Manchester, Walsall in
the West Midlands, the port town of Dover, Gateshead, Stockton
upon Tees and Birtley in the North East.
3. The men were charged with conspiracy to contravene section
170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 contrary so
section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
4. To view the photographs associated with this release, please
use the link below:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=421427&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=257
5. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk.
NAT 78/11
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press
enquiries only please contact:
Contacts:
HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
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Sara Pont
Phone: 020 7147 0394
sara.pont@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
Jonathan Hall
Phone: 020 7147 0052
jonathan.hall@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
HMRC Out of Hours
Phone: 07860 359544
NDS.HMRC@coi.gsi.gov.uk