Five fraudsters who were involved with one of the UK’s biggest tax scams worth £107.9m ($144m, €129m) have been told to repay £20m or face more time behind bars.
Michael Richards, Jonathan Anwyl, Robert Gold, Rodney Whiston-Dew and Evdoros Chrysanthos Demetriou were all jailed for more than 43 years in 2017 after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found they had devised a fake eco-investment scheme as a tax break for wealthy investors.
At the Old Bailey on 14 October and Southwark Crown Court on 13 December 2019, they were ordered to pay a combined total of £20m or collectively serve a further 39 years in prison.
If further assets are identified in the future for any of the convicted men, they could also be confiscated.
Actions don’t stop once convicted
Martin Lynagh, assistant director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, said: “This was a carefully-planned and complex attack on the tax system and now the men have to pay up or spend even more time in prison, and still owe the money.
“Our actions don’t stop once someone is convicted, we will look to reclaim the stolen money, cash that should be funding vital public services in the UK.”
Show us the money
HMRC said that Gold may need to sell a property in Dubai to settle his £2.6m bill, and Anwyl cashed in his pension fund to help pay off his £250,000 order.
Anwyl has paid his order and Gold has until late January 2020 to pay up or face an extra jail term of nine years. They were given their orders in October.
Richards and Whiston-Dew have properties in West Sussex and south-west London, which they may need to sell to pay off their respective £9.9m and £3m orders.
They face a further 10 years and nine years in jail, respectively, if they don’t make the payment in March 2020.
In December, Demetriou was given three months to pay up just over £4.6m or face a further nine years in jail.
‘One of the UK’s biggest tax crimes’
The five men were sentenced in November 2017 to a total of 43 and a half years in jail.
This was after HMRC investigators found they lured wealthy individuals to invest in Carbon Emission Reduction Certificates, which help countries hit environmental emissions targets set by the United Nations.
But the money was diverted to purchase properties in the UK and Dubai, none of which was declared to HMRC.
The £107.9m fraud was “one of the UK’s biggest tax crimes”, according to HMRC.
Another member of the crime group, Malcolm Gold, was sentenced to 20 months in prison in January 2017.
It was not clear if there is a familial connection between him and Robert Gold, one of the other men convicted.
Malcolm Gold was subject to a confiscation order on 5 October 2017 for £4,711, which was the amount of assets he had available at the time.
The order was paid on 27 October 2017.
