A Staffordshire-based director of a Manchester restaurant, who changed his name to hide his part in his family’s £1 million VAT fraud, was sentenced on 13th June.
Sibtain Ali, 35, of Burton on Trent, laundered £32,000 from the £1 million fraud that saw his two sisters, his brother and his brother’s partner make false VAT repayment claims for several companies, including the Popadom and Shawarma Express restaurants in the Trafford Centre.
The four fraudsters were sentenced in 2010 after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Tasejad Hussain Jeffrey and his partner Bijan Khoshabi were jailed for the VAT fraud. Ali’s two sisters, Fiza and Asmat Hussain, were given suspended jail sentences.
Subthain Hussain Jeffrey was named on paperwork as a company officer and a director of the two restaurants. Investigators could not initially trace him until they discovered Ali had changed his name from Subthain Hussain Jeffrey. The Jeffery family had previously tried to mislead investigators by claiming Tasejad Hussain Jeffrey was dead. Ali admitted laundering £32,000 through the restaurant’s finances.
Ali was jailed for one year suspended for 12 months on 13 June 2017, ordered to repay £32,000 within seven days to HMRC under a compensation order. He must also do 180 hours unpaid community work, and pay £2,000 court costs at Stafford Crown Court.
Judge M Chambers QC told Ali: “You were involved in a VAT fraud led by your brother in which other family members were involved using a vehicle to claim VAT for which there was no legitimate entitlement. This fraud was committed when the UK was facing difficult financial times and is a serious matter for public money to be defrauded in this way.”
