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Fraudsters jailed over White City construction scam
Three members of a family who ran a construction firm that is believed to have helped build Westfield were jailed following the discovery of a massive tax fraud.
Amarjit Singh Sidhu, cousin Surjit Singh Dhindsa and brother-in-law Rajinder Singh Bhattle stole more than £771,000 from the public purse in an elaborate scam, part of which involved setting up fake National Insurance numbers for labourers working on construction sites in White City.
Cash deducted from staff salaries which should have been paid to the Government in income tax and National Insurance was instead used to fund a lavish lifestyle and a £1 million family home in Slough.
Investigators confirmed only that the swindle involved construction projects in the White City area, as well as at Wembley Arena and Canary Wharf. Labourers were paid in cash and of 200 employees listed on the books, 113 had fake National Insurance numbers.
The men tried to disguise their fiddled accounts and reduce VAT payments using two companies, Multiple Construction Limited and Tempaid Limited, but the scam was uncovered by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office after both firms went into liquidation in 2005.
Sidhu, 49, was jailed for four and a half years and and disqualified from being a company director for 10 years at Reading Crown Court last Friday (27), after being convicted of cheating the public revenue. Dhindsa was also convicted and jailed for 20 months and Bhattle, who admitted the fraud, was sent to prison for 16 months. Both men were disqualified from being a company director for five years.
Sidhu's wife, Balwant Kaur Sidhu, was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from being a company director for five years.
Andrew Pavlinic, assistant director of criminal investigation for HM Revenue and Customs, said: "These people have not only evaded paying taxes, robbing the public purse, but have also stolen from the pockets of their employees.
"We take a serious view of such conduct and will actively pursue those who commit such fraud to the full extent of the law. These sentences will serve as a deterrent to anyone considering committing tax fraud."
Sentencing them, Judge G Risius CB said: "There was an element of professional planning. This was a deliberate attempt to mislead revenue investigators."
Prosecutors are now seeking to confiscate Sidhu's assets, which were remortgaged after his arrest three years ago when he transferred £800,000 of equity to India.
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