Our client was the final defendant to be tried by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs in this operation. A number of other individuals had already been tried and convicted for their involvement in a £38 million Missing Trade Intra Community Fraud operating out of the UK, Spain and the Caribbean. All of those already convicted had received custodial sentences.
In our client’s case however we were able to secure a Suspended Sentence after we were able to demonstrate that he had a much lesser role in the fraud with the prosecution being unable to provide any evidence to suggest otherwise. The case made all the more difficult due to the length of time between the commission of the offences and our client’s subsequent arrest 7 years later. It is believed that the suspended sentence in such a fraud is unique in view of the typically high tariffs that are handed down to defendants convicted of such offences.
Philip Spicer
Umar Zeb