Cash and carry owner jailed for laundering £25m through fake offshore firms

By Lucy Collins
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

The owner of a cash and carry has been jailed for seven years for helping a gang to launder £25million through a series of shell companies posing as legitimate alcohol suppliers.

Mandeep Singh Dhillon, 40, from Grove Park, Mottingham, was found guilty in July 2021 of conspiracy to convert criminal property after a four-month trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Avtar Singh Mann, 50, and Santokh Singh Bharj, 54, were also convicted on the same charges, following a revenue and customs investigation, Mann and Dhillon were the directors of two cash and carry warehouses in Barking, east London.

Mann ran Glenn & Co (Essex) Ltd in River Road and employed Bharj, while Dhillon ran Gardner Shaw C&C Ltd in Thames Road.

More than £329,000 in cash was found at Dhillon’s family home.

The court heard that Mann and Bharj moved millions of pounds through the bank accounts of shell companies set up to launder cash.

The money that was being laundered was believed to have come from selling booze in which the tax had not been paid.

Julie Marsh, assistant director, fraud investigation service, HMRC, said: “We uncovered a complex and sophisticated money laundering scheme, where cash was being moved through a number of shell companies.

“Money laundering is not a victimless crime. Laundered cash funds other serious crimes that bring harm and misery to communities.

“HMRC will investigate anyone suspected of being involved in money laundering and after conviction we’ll pursue the money they owe.

“We encourage anyone with information about tax fraud or money laundering to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

Investigators revealed that the shell companies, which claimed to be legitimate alcohol trading businesses, had no facilities to store alcohol and were fronted by people with no experience of the trade.

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used to control the  shell companies’ bank accounts  were  traced  to  several locations,  including  Mann’s Glenn & Co (Essex) Ltd premises, and  Bharj  and  Dhillon’s  home addresses.

During searches, evidence of the scam, including account books and bank slips, was found at Bharj’s home and at Dhillon’s Gardner Shaw C&C business, where £300,000 was discovered.

More than £198,000 and 26,000 in Euros was also found at Mann’s home in Loughton, Essex.

All the money found during the searches has been seized and forfeiture is being sought by HMRC.

Bharj and Dhillon were sentenced to seven years and three months and four years in jail, respectively, at Southwark  Crown  Court  on October 6.

Mann will be sentenced at the same court on November 1.

Two other men, Thinh Van Dinh, 38, from the Gerard Street area of Chinatown, central London, and Inderjit Paul, 45, of Dudley,  West Midlands were directors of two of the shell companies.

Van Dinh pleaded guilty to entering a money laundering arrangement and Paul pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert criminal property.

Both received suspended sentences at earlier hearings.

HMRC has also launched confiscation proceeding to reclaim criminal money and assets.