NAT 85.09
Three members of a family have been jailed for a total of
seven and a half years today following an investigation by HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) into a tax fraud that stole over
£3/4 million from the public purse. A fourth family member
received a suspended prison sentence.
Amarjit Singh Sidhu (49), along with three others, stole a total
of £771,000 in income tax, National Insurance and VAT owed to
HMRC.
The fraudsters failed to pass on to HMRC the tax and national
insurance contributions deducted from staff salaries. They set-up
a sham company (Tempaid Ltd) to avoid paying the taxes and to
suppress the VAT liability of their legitimate company, Multiple
Construction Limited.
Last month, a jury at Reading Crown Court found Amarjit Singh
Sidhu, Balwant Kaur Sidhu (his wife) and Surjit Singh Dhindsa (his
cousin), guilty of cheating the public revenue. Rajinder Singh
Bhattle, (Singh Sidhu’s brother in law) who pleaded guilty last
year, was also sentenced today.
· Amarjit Singh Sidhu was jailed for four and a half years and
disqualified from being a company director for 10 years.
· Surjit Singh Dhindsa was jailed for 20 months and disqualified
from being a company director for five years.
· Rajinder Singh Bhattle was jailed for 16 months and
disqualified from being a company director for five years.
· Balwant Kaur Sidhu was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for
12 months, and disqualified from being a company director for five
years.
In sentencing, His Honour Judge Risius CB said:
“There was an element of professional planning. This was a
deliberate attempt to mislead Revenue Investigators.”
Andrew Pavlinic, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for
HMRC said:
“These people have not only evaded paying taxes, robbing the
public purse, but have also stolen from the pockets of their
employees. We take a serious view of such conduct and will
actively pursue those who commit such fraud to the full extent of
the law. These sentences will serve as a deterrent to anyone
considering committing tax fraud.”
Amarjit Singh Sidhu was the company director of Multiple
Construction Limited, a labour supply business based at Egypt
Lane, Farnham Common in Slough. His company supplied labour to a
number of construction companies based in London, whose contracts
involved the construction of Wembley Stadium, Canary Wharf and
White City. His wife Balwant Kaur Sidhu was the company
secretary. In April 2004, Multiple Construction Limited
transferred all its employees to another company, Tempaid Limited,
run by Rajinder Singh Bhattle and Surjit Singh Dhindsa.
The Court heard that the fraudsters created Tempaid Limited in an
attempt to evade tax and reduce the VAT liability of Multiple
Construction Limited. The workforce was never transferred from
Multiple Construction Limited. Tempaid Limited was in effect used
as a hidden bank account to under-declare the profits of Multiple
Construction Limited. Multiple Construction Limited would issue
cheques for payment of false invoices to Tempaid Limited. The
funds were then withdrawn and used to pay employee wages in cash.
Tempaid Limited never invoiced Multiple Construction Limited to
cover the hours worked and the taxes due.
During the investigation, HMRC found that of the 200 employees of
Multiple Construction Limited only 87 were identified as using
legitimate National Insurance numbers. The payroll records showed
that false National Insurance numbers were used by the fraudsters
for the balance of their employees.
Both companies went into liquidation in 2005. The money that
Multiple Construction Limited retained in its bank accounts should
have been used to settle the outstanding taxes, but was instead
used to fund the extravagant lifestyle of Amarjit Singh Sidhu and
Balwant Kaur Sidhu. This included assisting in the purchase of
‘Millstones’, the family home, which cost over £1,000,000, along
with other properties, which were let to tenants.
Following his arrest in 2006 Amarjit Singh Sidhu immediately
re-mortgaged some of his properties, removing equity of £800,000,
which he transferred to India. Confiscation of assets is being
sought.
This case was successfully prosecuted by the Revenue and Customs
Prosecutions Office (RCPO).
Notes to Editors
1. Amarjit Singh Sidhu, 01/09/1960, of Millstones, Egypt Lane,
Farnham Common, Slough, SL2 3LF was the company director of
Multiple Construction Limited. He was also employed as a baggage
handler at Heathrow Airport.
2. Balwant Kaur Sidhu, 01/04/1964, of Millstones, Egypt Lane,
Farnham Common, Slough, SL2 3LF was the company secretary of
Multiple Construction Limited and wife of Amarjit Singh Sidhu.
3. Rajinder Singh Bhattle, 22/11/1954, of 116 Castle Green,
Westbrook, Warrington, WA5 7XA, company director of Tempaid
Limited, and married to Balwant Kaur Sidhu’s sister.
4. Surjit Singh Dhindsa, 10/05/1952, of 7 Quinbrookes, Slough,
SL2 5RX, company secretary of Tempaid Limited and cousin of
Amarjit Singh Sidhu.
5. They were charged with cheating the Revenue of Income Tax, VAT
and National Insurance Contributions.
6. On 18 December 2008 Rajinder Singh Bhattle pleaded guilty to
two counts of cheating HMRC of PAYE (income tax) and VAT.
7. The remaining three pleaded not guilty. They were found guilty
on 15 October 2009 at Reading Crown Court.
8. The total tax loss was £771,000, consisting of Pay as you Earn
(PAYE) income tax fraud of £525,000 and VAT fraud of £246,000.
9. The offences mainly relate to the period between January 2004
and April 2005.
10. The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) was
created by the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. An
independent prosecuting authority, RCPO reports directly to the
Attorney General and is responsible for prosecuting cases for HMRC
and SOCA. It prosecutes some of the largest drug and fraud cases
in the UK. For further information about RCPO, please contact
their press office on 020 7147 7746 or visit www.rcpo.gov.uk.
11. To view the documents associated with this release,
please use the link below:
Contacts:
HMRC Out of Hours
Phone: 07860 359544
NDS.HMRC@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Sara Gaines
Phone: 020 7147 0394
sara.gaines@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
Lisa Billard
Phone: 02380 797587
lisa.billard@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk