An on-the-run fraudster will lose his £90 million property empire, a judge has ruled.
Sock manufacturer Arif Patel, 57, from Preston, Lancashire, will have homes and business premises he owned taken from him after a confiscation order granted by a judge at Chester Crown Court on Thursday.
Patel, who now lives in Dubai, masterminded a gang that was convicted in 2023 of one of the UK’s biggest carousel tax frauds.
Carousel fraud is a complex scam where criminals create chains of fake business transactions to steal VAT repayments.
Goods are moved between different companies in a circular pattern, creating false export and import records that criminals use to claim back large sums from tax authorities.
Patel has now been ordered to pay back £90,503,211 with the sale of his properties in Preston, London and overseas.
And his Ferrari 575 Superamerica will be sold at auction.
His operation stole millions of pounds through VAT repayment claims on false exports of textiles and mobile phones.
They also imported and sold counterfeit clothes that would have been worth at least £50 million, had they been genuine.
The proceeds of the crimes funded his property empire, purchased through offshore bank accounts and companies.
He also owned property in Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The confiscation order means his restrained property assets will be sold and the money put back into the public coffers.
Patel and his co-accused, Mohamed Jaffar Ali, 61, of Dubai, were found guilty in their absence of fraud and money laundering offences after a 14-week trial in 2023.
The convictions followed a joint investigation between HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Lancashire Police, which also secured jail sentences totalling more than 116 years for 24 other gang members.
Richard Las, director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Arif Patel lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the law-abiding majority, but he will now lose the property empire he amassed from the proceeds of crime.
“Our work never stops at conviction. For the last two years we’ve worked with police and CPS partners to secure one of the biggest criminal confiscations we’ve ever recovered.
“Tens of millions of pounds of stolen money will now go back to directly to fund public services.”
Mark Winstanley, Assistant Chief Constable, Lancashire Constabulary, said: “Arif Patel was the head of a Preston-based organised crime group responsible for causing millions of pounds worth of losses to multiple companies.
“His actions, motivated by greed, directly impacted on the taxpayer.
“The confiscation order granted for £90 million will ensure funds are returned to the public purse, thereby recovering his criminal gains.
“Mohammed Jaffar Ali was Arif Patel’s trusted financial enabler in Dubai and he too has been made subject to a confiscation order for £677,000.”
Adrian Foster, chief crown prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service Proceeds of Crime, said: “In the last five years, £478 million has been recovered from CPS-obtained confiscation orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending.
Arif Patel lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the law-abiding majority, but he will now lose the property empire he amassed from the proceeds of crime
“More than £95 million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation.”
Patel ran the scam from Preston-based import/export company Faisaltex Ltd.
He travelled to Dubai in July 2011, failed to return and was tried in his absence at Chester Crown Court, where he was found guilty of all charges in April 2023.
Mohamed Jaffar Ali was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and money laundering.
They were sentenced in their absence to a total of 31 years in prison. The UK does have a formal extradition treaty with Dubai but legal commentators say it is not effective.
Twenty-four other people were convicted during five trials between 2011 and 2014, and a total of 116 years seven months imprisonment handed down.