"Lord Houghton" , law lecturer, lay preacher in £51 Mn VAT carousel fraud jailed for 61/2 years - 8 Mr Bigs free due to botched investigation by HMRC
Malcolm Edwards-Sayer (DOB 27.10.58) of 103 Derby Road, Bramcote, Nottingham, lectured in law at South East Derbyshire College from 2002-2004.College Principal Linnia Khemdoudi said: "As far as we know he had a degree in law, which qualifies him to teach A-Level law, and had all the rest of the qualifications that we would require."
He was also a part-time lay preacher with the diocese of Southwell.
His career (sometimes as Lord Houghton a manorial title he purchased) as a trader in mobile phones will be disrupted for 6 1/2 years whilst he stays in prison as a result of pleaded guilty today on 8 counts of Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue under the Criminal Law 1977 and for Money Laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He was also disqualified from being a director for 12 years. (Plus 3 1/2 years to run consecutively for 16 counts of deception on charges brought by Nottingham Police for pretending to be a solicitor.)
Edwards-Sayer facilitated the fraud through his control of a number of companies based in the UK and Gibraltar. He failed to pay VAT to HMRC of over £51 million. The fraud included the following companies Malcolm Edwards t/a Barclay Devere in Nottingham, who defaulted on paying £12.2 million in VAT repayments, Greenday Wholesale Ltd in Stoke, who defaulted on paying around £4.9 million, Swift Online Ltd in Stoke, who defaulted on paying around £7.5 million and Storm Promotions Ltd in Coventry, who defaulted on paying around £26.8 million.
Edwards-Sayer has been in custody since October 2005 after being jailed for six months for breaching an order banning him from using his parents' bank accounts - even his mother's after she died of cancer.
A confiscation order has been applied for and will be heard next year.
* An associate , Rachel Horton (DOB 28.03.70) of 12 Friar's Crescent, Newark, Nottingham, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on 15 November 2007 to 150 hours Community Service. She was charged with one count of Money Laundering (for £1 Mn ) under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Horton controlled a company and its bank account in the name of La Ronde Ltd in Nottingham, which never traded in any real or legitimate sense. It was used by Horton to launder the proceeds of crime of some £1 million which were sent out to Latvia and onto Hong Kong.
The Police say it's twice the Brinks Mat robbery - think of it as 0.16% of the money lost in the Northern Wreck
The judge however bollocked HMRC because it appears that "Lord Houghton's " take as some £200,000 and that 8 "big fish" couldn't be prosecuted due to a botched investigation and got away to enjoy the results of this massive fraud.
2 comments:
The judge described Malcom Edwards-Sayers as "facilitator rather than an organiser".
So the same old story again: no prosecution of the organisers and comprehensive failures to disclose material by the prosecution which led Judge Teare to the conclusion that the eight other defendants wouldn't have received a fair trial.
Why is there repeated failure in VAT frauds to disclose? What evidence has to be hidden from the court/public? Could it be evidence that shows government agencies are involved in the frauds, which would be a good reason why the government doesn't seem so concerned about the billions of our money leaving the country.
The scale of VAT frauds is massive - carousel fraud not less than £3 BN a year for several years. The recovery of funds, derisory a few million.
Sentences (usually on the office managers) laughable.
The speed at which the public purse is milked is frightening - hence our pedantic recording of cases to bring attention to soemthing that is overlooked.
See also the post recently abour Asset recovery in NI. It is plainly evident that no one wants to tackle the paramilitary gangsters who m ake Afghan war lords look amateurish.
Cui bono ?
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