Diesel launderers jailed for duty and VAT fraud

Measham is a pretty Midlands village with a defunct colliery and a huge car auction site near the brewing centre of Burton on Trent. It also housed a massive fuel laundering site which was run by three men who were sent to prison today for 13 1/2 years in total.

At Coventry Crown Court today, for their part in an illegal fuel-laundering scam, resulting in the evasion of over £2 million in excise duty and VAT . Damian Mulholland (39) of Beaver Crescent, Maghera, County Londonderry, got 6 years Brian Patrick O'Doherty (49) of Coventry, got 5 years and Jagdevpal Jandu Singh (41) Wolverhampton, got 2 1/2 years under the Customs & Excise Management Act 1979.

Diesel fuel and rebated fuel for use in agricultural machinery is coloured with red dye in the UK and green dye in the Republic of Ireland it must not be used in road vehicles. Dyed red diesel sells for 23p a litre while the clear white fuel sells at approx 87p per litre in the UK.

HM Revenue & Customs Officers (HMRC) in an undercover operation in 2005 showed how rebated oil (red diesel and kerosene) collected from a licensed distributor was laundered or mixed and then sold to the retail market as duty paid road diesel and ultra low sulphur diesel.

The gang were also smuggling, laundering and mixing rebated oil (green diesel) from the Republic of Ireland. (May 17th 2005 Lord Patel reported a similiar sized case in Northern Ireland " Ghosts launder fuel in NI...." where no-one was arrested.)

The fraud involved the laundering and distribution of over four million litres of fuel over an eight-month period.

In court the mechanics of the operation were disclosed in considerable detail.

The details of a bon fide company, Taz Construction were hi-jacked and used by O'Doherty to purchase , 34,000 litres of kerosene in several fuel tankers in August 2004, for which he paid cash.

This fuel was then sold using a bogus company called Mac Oil based in Manchester, operated by others involved in the fraud.

After observing the gang for some time the HMRC moved and a fuel mixing plant was dismantled and quantities of kerosene and green diesel were seized at premises in Lizard Lane, Tong Forge near Telford, Shropshire and also at a Measham, Swadlincote warehouse a fully operating oils laundering plant was dismantled.

O'Doherty was stopped by Police on the M6 driving a tanker containing 25,000 litres of illicit fuel. Fuel was also seized from the tanker's running tank.

Defrauding the revenue is not a victimless theft, in cases like this it usually involves widespread pollution by harmful chemicals, and often the funding of terrorist gangs and para-military organisations. If you buy the stuff ity can also fuck your engine up.