Four men have received severe punishments for their part in a £10m VAT ‘carousel’ fraud.

Durgesh Mehta, 51, was jailed for 10 years, while his co-conspirators Gerald Reardon, 55, Matthew Sharman, 43, and Peter Ratcliff, 54, were each sent down for eight years at Canterbury crown court.

After the quartet were found guilty of fraudulently reclaiming VAT for false trades in mobile phones, Debbie Hayman, of HM Revenue & Customs said:

‘This sends out a clear message to those involved in missing trader, or carousel fraud as it is commonly known, that we are committed to tackling VAT fraud. Tax fraud is not a victimless crime, it is a criminal theft of revenue needed to fund our country’s public services.’

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