An accountant from Harrow, Abu Talib Ghadiri, 34, faces six years in prison for his involvement in a £400,000 Gift Aid and tax fraud
His brother Mohsin Raza, 33, was also involved and received a four-year term. Both men were sentenced at Harrow Crown court on 20 May 2016.
The court was told that the men were running a Gift Aid fraud linked to two charities – the Fatmiyya Trust and The Light which falsely claimed to provide education, development of medical centres and to help victims of natural disasters in Pakistan.
They submitted false repayment claims of £340,000 to HMRC, listing donations from deceased taxpayers and used the details of ineligible taxpayers on the forms to claim the repayment.
For Fatimiyya Trust alone he submitted claims of almost £140,780 although £58,524 of this was paid back. Ghadiri and his brother claimed £199,788 for The Light, of which £116,369.68 was repaid.
In addition to this, Ghadiri submitted false VAT invoices worth £47,000 which were linked to seven false companies. Both brothers listed donations from deceased taxpayers, sometimes months after their deaths, and used the details of ineligible taxpayers on the forms to claim the repayments.
The companies in question were connected to his ex-girlfriend, however his address was the registered address for the purported charities and his national insurance number was associated with the accounts.
His former girlfriend told the court that he was operating under her name to avoid getting caught.
For a separate fraud, an associate of Ghadiri Salih Ozbay, 38, was also jailed for a total of 18 months. Ozbay, company secretary of smart Price Builders ltd., made a false VAT repayment claim for £69,442, this fraud was uncovered during the HMRC investigation.
All three men were arrested in 2014 by HMRC officers and found guilty on 12 April 2016 after a trial at Harrow Crown Court. They were all jailed on 20 May 2016 at the same court.
Addressing Ghadiri, his honour judge Arran said: ‘Your evidence was a series of lies, displaying a meanness and cowardice in blaming others. Taking advantage of a dying person was particularly disgraceful. This sentence reflects your sheer dishonesty and lack of remorse.’
