Express & Star

Brothers in £4.7m alcohol fraud caught

Three men who tried to steal more than £4.7 million in an alcohol tax fraud have been sentenced after a customs sting.

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Brothers Peter and Gurjit Singh Kunoor, from Smethwick, and relative Amandeep Singh, from Northamptonshire, were caught after a lorry loaded with 2,000 lit-res of spirits labelled for export from the UK was seized by HMRC officers at an industrial estate in Lincolnshire.

Thousands of litres of illicit alcohol, cash and records were found during searches of the brothers' home in Smethwick and a storage unit in Bilston, Wolverhampton.

The bottles were labelled for export but the gang planned to sell the alcohol in the UK without paying any duty.

Peter Kunoor, aged 36, of Florence Road in Smethwick, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to evade excise duty and was convicted after trial of possession of criminal property. He was jailed for five years.

Gurjit Kunoor, 33, of the same address, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to evade excise duty. He was given an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Amandeep Singh, 32,

Peter Kunoor's brother-in-law, of Warkton Way, Corby, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud excise duty.

He was jailed for three years and will be liable to deportation after serving half. HMRC spokesman Bob Gaiger said: "These men attempted to disguise their illegal activities by destroying the export duty stamps and adding counterfeit labels.

"They then tried to sell the alcohol in the UK without paying any duty. They acted purely out of greed to line their own pockets, with no regard for the consequences to honest traders."

The fraud unravelled when a Mercedes lorry registered to Peter Singh Kunoor, driven by Amandeep Singh, pulled into an industrial unit in Lincolnshire in October 2010. Unknown to the men, HMRC officers were watching the premises and arrested Singh.

When the vehicle was searched, more than 2,000 litres of vodka were found.

When HMRC officers searched the Kunoor home in Smethwick, they discovered £45,000 in cash hidden in carrier bags in a bedroom, along with 60 litres of spirits.

Documents were also found relating to a storage unit in Bilston, where officers seized a further 6,761 litres of beer and 2,101 litres of wine, on which no duty had been paid. All the alcohol was seized.

Although under investigation, when a van driven by Peter Singh Kunoor was stopped in Grove Road, Birmingham, in December 2010, HMRC officers found cases of whisky with counterfeit labels and the tax stamps scratched off.

No legitimate invoices were provided for any of the seized alcohol. The total amount of duty evaded is estimated as £4,707,771.

Mr Gaiger added: "HMRC is committed to protecting public finances from attacks by criminals and will not stand by and let these crooks rip off the law abiding public.

"Anyone who suspects illegal alcohol is being stored or sold locally can help us by calling the customs hotline on 0800 59 5000."

A confiscation hearing is listed for October 25 2013.

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