The four – Stephen Michael Pigott from Dubai, Stacey
Haber-Hofberg from Hampshire, Joanna Cynthia Harris of London and
Theresa Ifeyinwa Igbanugo, also of London – have been remanded in
custody and will be sentenced on 9th September.
They were found to have participated in a type of fraud known as
missing trader fraud, which occurs where fraudsters obtain VAT
registration to acquire goods VAT-free from other Member States.
They then sell on the goods at VAT inclusive prices and disappear
without paying over the VAT paid by their customers to the tax
authorities.
The most abusive form of the fraud is "carousel" fraud, where
the same consignment of goods is sold through a series of contrived
transactions back and forth between Member States in order to steal
the sums charged as VAT every time the goods go around the
circle.
On this occasion the fraud involved buying mobile phones from
three fictitious companies and using false receipts to charge VAT
on the transactions. The proceeds from this crime were then sent to
the Hong Kong bank accounts of a number of companies created to
perpetrate the fraud.
These companies were in fact clones of existing
British-registered companies dealing mostly in mobile phones. The
four accused issued fraudulent invoices in the names of the
existing British companies, and VAT was charged on those invoices
under their true VAT registration numbers.
The invoices were manufactured to resemble those used by the
real companies, often by means of downloading logos and other
details from the internet. Buyers were instructed to make payment
to the Hong Kong accounts. The funds could then be electronically
dispersed.
According to Assistant Chief Investigation Officer Deborah
Hayman:
"This type of fraud is not a victimless
crime and threatens the economic well-being of the country. This
result sends a clear message that HMRC is committed to tackling the
most serious organised crime that attacks our Revenue systems. Not
only will we dismantle and prosecute these organisations, but we
will vigorously pursue the recovery of their criminally derived
assets."
HMRC and the Office for National Statistics issued a warning
last week that the scam was so prevalent it was distorting the UK’s
trade figures.
