The investigation into the crime group was undertaken by Kent Police along with HMRC
The construction organised crime group created a series of labour supply companies that kept VAT payments that customers made for themselves instead of sending them to HMRC.
The group also took financial deductions from sub-contractor agreements.
The construction organised crime group had seven members
The members of the construction organised crime group include:
- Phillip Bailey, 36, was jailed for six years and three months on charges of conspiring to cheat the public revenue and transferring criminal property
- Daniel Newton, 37, was jailed for nine years and four months on charges of conspiring to cheat the public revenue and transferring criminal property
- Kevin Ratcliffe, 43, was jailed for 27 months on charges of conspiring to cheat the public revenue and acquiring criminal property
- Sean Dean, 41, was jailed for seven years on the charge of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue
- Lee Hudson, 56, was jailed for five years on the charge of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue
- Sarah Gillard, 41, was jailed for two years and given a two-year suspended sentence on the charge of acquiring criminal property
- Bradley Mortimer, 39, was jailed for three and a half years on the charge of entering into a money laundering arrangement
The investigation began with Bailey, who was investigated for firearms, theft, and money laundering offences in 2020, which uncovered his criminal accountant activities. His agreements with construction and logistics companies consisted of fronts and bank accounts designed to divert money from HMRC.
The accounts were set up in the names of front directors, who would be paid off by Bailey. One of these was Ratcliffe, who owned a Sussex-based construction company.
After Bailey was arrested, Newton became the construction organised crime group’s accountant. Dean, Hudson, Gillard, and Mortimer all benefited from the scheme.
Over time, the group is estimated to have taken £22m in unpaid taxes.
The group also ran operations for other groups
The investigation also found that other money laundering schemes were being ran by the construction tax fraud mafia for criminal associates, identifying over £2m linked to a large-scale drug supply network throughout the south east of the UK.
Investigation lead detective constable Dameon Shaw said: “These criminals set up and ran a large-scale operation designed to steal VAT and CIS payments, which were then paid out to themselves and criminal associates. They are now paying the price for their actions with the sentences handed out by the court today.
“Tax fraud is not a victimless crime; the public rely on the revenue generated by tax to fund essential services. No matter how hard they tried to conceal their illicit gains, our expert investigators were able to unravel their web of lies.”
Ian Hackett, operational lead in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “We have worked closely with Kent Police to dismantle this sophisticated and complex fraud.
“The tenacity and expertise of the investigators involved in this joint investigation has protected millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, which is needed to fund our public services.‘We encourage anyone with information about any type of tax fraud to report it to HMRC online.”
