Three car traders behind a £1.3m VAT fraud, involving prestige and luxury cars being shipped worldwide, have been jailed.
Sarju Popat, 48, of Rowlands Avenue, Harrow, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison, according to a HMRC statement, when he appeared at St Albans Crown Court on Wednesday (June 17).
He was found to have claimed back thousands of pounds of tax, between 2009 and 2011, on sales of second-hand luxury sports cars such as Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches - worth up to £200,000 each.
The dealer was helped by brothers Manoj Vyas, 55, from Edmonton, and Paresh Vyas, 51, from Hertfordshire, HMRC said.
The brothers received four and five-year prison sentences, respectively.
Assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, Paul Barton, said: “This was a blatant attack on the tax system.
"Their only aim was to line their pockets at the expense of the taxpayer.
“These three took away more than a million pounds from vital public services through this fraud and we will aim to recoup the proceeds of their crime.
"Tax crime does not pay.”
