Money-laundering duo jailed
A COMPANY director and a cash and carry worker have been jailed for more than 11 years in total for laundering £25 million through shell companies while posing as legitimate alcohol businesses.
Avtar Singh Mann, 50, Mandeep Singh Dhillon, 40 and Santokh Singh Bharj, 54, were found guilty in July of conspiracy to convert criminal property after a four-month trial at Southwark crown court.
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 was in charge of 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. The money being laundered was believed to derive from the sale of non-duty paid alcohol.
Julie Marsh, assistant director of the 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.”
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.
Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used to control the shell companies bank accounts were traced to several locations, including Mann’s Glenn & Co premises, and Bharj and Dhillon’s home addresses.
During searches, evidence of the scam, including account books and bank slips, were found at Bharj’s home and at Gardner Shaw C&C, where £300,000 was discovered.
More than £198,000 and €26,000 (£22,106) were found at Mann’s home in Loughton, and £329,000 at Dhillon’s family home in Chislehurst. All the money found 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 last Wednesday (6). Mann will be sentenced at the same court on November 1.
Two other men, Thinh Van Dinh, 38, of London, and Inderjit Paul, 45, of Dudley, were directors of two of the shell companies.
Van Dinh pleaded guilty to entering a money-laundering arrangement and Paul pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert criminal property.
Both received suspended sentences at earlier hearings.
HMRC has also launched a confiscation proceeding to reclaim criminal money and assets.