Horley and Lingfield father and son jailed for laundering £23 million

A HORLEY man and his father from Lingfield have been jailed for their part in a multimillion pound tax fraud.

Daniel Barrs, 29, of Suffolk Close, was given three sentences of three years each, and his father, Daniel Andrew Barrs, 65, of New Place Gardens, Lingfield, was given three seven year sentences for facilitating the laundering of more than £23 million.

The jail terms will run concurrently for both men.

Their crimes came to light following a four-year investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Narinder Chada and Gurmail Dosajh, both from Gravesend, set up companies to buy carbon credits – which allow companies to legitimately produce more carbon dioxide than they would otherwise be permitted to.

LOCKED UP: Gurmail Dosanjh and Narinder Chada from Gravesend, did not pass VAT to the government

They would sell them at competitive prices on the open market – but keep the VAT they received, rather than paying their taxes to the government.

By doing this, they deprived the public purse of £11,7m.

Barrs and Barrs hid the money by setting up three offshore corporate structures and provided money laundering platforms within overseas bank accounts.

Police followed the trail of laundered cash from the UK to Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia,

The pair were also convicted of laundering money in a previous case dealt with by HMRC in 2012.

This was a very organised operation but we were determined to piece together enough evidence to bring those responsible to justice.’

Detective Constable Phil Kershaw said the gang “dishonestly and deliberately abused the VAT system”.

He added: “When the offences took place in 2009, the rate of VAT was 15 per cent. The more carbon credits they sold, the more VAT they could charge and keep.

“This was not a victim-less crime. By depriving the Government of millions of pounds of VAT, the offenders were in effect stealing from all UK taxpayers. The money should have been spent on schools, hospitals and other services.

“I hope this case serves as a warning to anyone trying to commit tax fraud that the authorities, whether Kent Police or HMRC, will catch up with you.”

The two month-long trial at Southwark Crown Court concluded on March 26, and all four men were sentenced on April 21.

Chada, 62, from The Russetts in Meopham and Dosanjh, 46, from Singlewell Road in Gravesend had both been found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public purse of £11.7 million.

The judge sentenced them to seven years and eight years respectively.