FOUR men, including one from the Midlands, have been jailed for their roles in a criminal gang that conspired to steal £17million of taxpayers’ money. Nine men were previously jailed for a total 21 years. A further defendant has been charged and is due to stand trial. Investigators from Revenue And Customs smashed the multi-million pound fraud which centred on the mobile phone industry. VAT claims to steal a further £5million had been made. Paperwork recovered during house searches showed the gang were planning on a further fraud to steal an additional £300million of VAT from the public purse. The operation involved investigations in China, Taiwan, India, Italy, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. Investigators followed the trail of money that had been illegally diverted out of the UK in a bid to avoid detection. Gary Lampon, of Revenue And Customs, said: “This was a complex and lengthy investigation, over five years, to unravel this multi million pound fraud by an organised crime gang. "They used the money to fund extravagant lifestyles at the expense of the British taxpayer. “‘Missing trader’ fraud is not merely a paper fraud, it funds other serious crime and we are determined to pursue and bring to justice the criminals behind this type of fraud.”
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