A £10 million tax fraud ring has been broken by the apprehension of five people, after more than 30 raids on homes and businesses in southern England.
The arrests in Greater London, Surrey and Kent followed a nine-month investigation by HMRC into organised evasion of VAT and excised duty by a gang that funnelled profits into amassing a 'substantial property portfolio'.
The alleged culprits are accused of not paying duty on large amounts of alcohol, buying goods from the EU and selling them on without paying VAT, and money laundering.
The latest HMRC coup follows the success of Operation Vaulter in September, when 13 men and three women from around the UK were arrested for missing trader intra community fraud and money laundering via a £20 million scam involving large numbers of mobile phones purchased in other EU nations.
