Dudley man convicted after £25m money laundering operation busted

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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/dudley-man-convicted-after-25m-21810206

Dudley man convicted after £25m money laundering operation busted

A company director from Dudley pleaded guilty to entering a money laundering arrangement

 

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By

Oprah Flash

• 20:56, 8 OCT 2021

A business owner from Dudley has pleaded guilty to money laundering after a £25million money laundering operation was busted.

Following an HMRC investigation, it was discovered that a series of shell companies were posing as legitimate alcohol businesses to launder a huge sum of money.

The 'complex' scheme involved the movement of millions of pounds through the bank accounts of the shell firms set up to launder cash.

 

It is believed the laundered money came from the sale of non-duty paid alcohol.

Inderjit Paul, 45, of Blakeley Walk, Dudley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert criminal property on July 6, last year at Southwark Crown Court and received a 14-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He was banned from being a company director for five years and ordered to pay £2,000 costs.

Avtar Singh Mann, 50, Mandeep Singh Dhillon, 40 and Santokh Singh Bharj, 54, were found guilty in July 2021 of conspiracy to convert criminal property after a four-month trial.

Mann and Dhillon were the directors of two cash and carry warehouses in Barking, East London. Mann ran Glenn & Co (Essex) Ltd in River Road and employed Bharj, while Dhillon ran Gardner Shaw C&C Ltd in Thames Road.

The court heard that Mann and Bharj moved millions of pounds through the bank accounts of shell companies set up to launder cash.

Julie Marsh, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "We uncovered a complex and sophisticated money-laundering scheme, where cash was being moved through a number of shell companies. Money laundering is not a victimless crime. Laundered cash funds other serious crimes that bring harm and misery to communities.

"HMRC will investigate anyone suspected of being involved in money laundering and after conviction we’ll pursue the money they owe. We encourage anyone with information about tax fraud or money laundering to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

Investigators revealed that the shell companies, which claimed to be legitimate alcohol trading businesses, had no facilities to store alcohol and were fronted by people with no experience of the trade.

 

Santokh Singh Bharj, 54 and Mandeep Singh Dhillon, 40 (Image: HMRC)

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used to control the shell companies bank accounts were traced to several locations, including Mann’s Glenn & Co (Essex) Ltd premises, and Bharj and Dhillon’s home addresses.

During searches, evidence of the scam, including account books and bank slips, was found at Bharj’s home and at Gardner Shaw C&C, where £300,000 was discovered.

More than £198,000 and 26,000 in Euros was found at Mann’s home in Loughton, and £329,000 at Dhillon’s family home in Chislehurst. All the money found during the searches has been seized and forfeiture is being sought by HMRC.

Bharj and Dhillon were sentenced to seven years and three months and four years in jail, respectively, at Southwark Crown Court on October 6.

Mann will be sentenced at the same court on November 1