back to article Dodgy mobe dealer jumps on VAT carousel, gets 13-year ban

The director of now-dissolved mobile phone dealer Fima Consulting has been disqualified from managing a limited company for 13 years over his part in a £1m VAT scam, according to a UK government press release. Fiaz Razzak Malik was disqualified following an investigation by the Official Receiver at the Public Interest Unit, a …

  1. ratfox
    WTF?

    No jail?

    The punishment for fraud is that you're not allowed to do it again??

    1. Busby

      Re: No jail?

      Unless of course you're talking about benefit fraud in which case current thinking is hanging's too good for them.

      Penalties for financial crimes are ridiculously lenient a lot of the time but this one seems extreme if ban on directorship was the only action taken. Hard to understand why assets weren't seized under proceeds of crime and a custodial sentence wasn't imposed. If he had fraudulently claimed 1% of that in housing benefit would have faced much more severe sanctions.

      1. the spectacularly refined chap

        Re: No jail?

        Unless of course you're talking about benefit fraud in which case current thinking is hanging's too good for them.

        This time it isn't really the case of one rule for one group and another rule for others: the punishment for benefits cheats is similarly lenient. Time and again people receive tens of thousands as a result of a false claim and get punished with less than a hundred hours community service.

        They have to repay the money of course but because in many cases the fraudster is legitimately on some form of benefit the courts won't order repayment at a rate of more than £5 a week. It's not unheard of that people would need to live to over 200 to repay the debt.

    2. Richard 26

      Re: No jail?

      I guess the CPS looked at it, and found that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute. As Tony Hancock said: ""Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain? "

      1. Roo
        Windows

        Re: No jail?

        "I guess the CPS looked at it, and found that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute."

        It's entirely possible the CPS is actually working on it. I suspect that the CPS would prefer to recover the proceeds of the crime rather than impose a custodial sentence, and it's entirely possible that they have already started this process. The lawyers of clients have a habit of making the whole process very difficult. ;)

        If it were workable fraudsters could automatically declared bankrupt and held under house arrest indefinitely until the proceeds of their crime are fully recovered. If they can't afford to run their home with no visible means of support they could be given a £15 tent, a 2nd hand knife & fork from an airline meal, and a patch of beach next to Sellafield to live on.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: No jail?

          "I suspect that the CPS would prefer to recover the proceeds of the crime rather than impose a custodial sentence.."

          Here's a suggestion - how about doing both?

          1. Roo
            Windows

            Re: No jail? @ Evil Graham

            "Here's a suggestion - how about doing both?"

            The problem is that we don't really have enough prisons to put all criminals behind bars, which is why I suggested housing the muppets on a beach near Sellafield (preferably downstream & downwind if that's possible).

            This would have a number of advantages over a prison: cheap to run, minimal building costs and come winter there would be plenty of new spaces opening up on the beach. As an added bonus, overcrowding is unlikely to be a long-term issue thanks to Cumbrian weather & high tides.

            The only drawback is that hand wringing lefties might point out that bomb-grade seagulls have been found in the area and the studies that have shown significantly higher mortality rates in the area, although neither of issues can be taken seriously because the sample populations are so small... ;)

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: No jail?

      @ ratfox - politicians seem to get away with it time and again (fraud) yet they are never punished and get re-elected every five years.

    5. Just Enough
      Unhappy

      Re: No jail?

      Surely this is only half the story? There's a criminal prosecution under way, surely?

      I did a google and no mention of one. Guess crime pays, as long as you can create a company to do it for you. My advice to benefit scroungers, immigrant free-loaders and other modern day bogeymen is get yourself limited liability. The usual laws don't apply.

  2. Khaptain Silver badge

    Laughing all the way to the Swiss Bank.

    This guy must have left court in a wheelchair as the fits of laughter that he must have suffered would have rendered him unable to walk.

    As he walks into the Geneva branch of Lombard Odier, thinking to himself, I wonder if I should have a nice Blanc de Blanc with my lobster today or will I simply send a bottle of Blue Nun to HMRC with a nice card saying thanks for everything, lol....

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: Laughing all the way to the Swiss Bank.

      Blue Nun?

      Are we somehow back in the 1970's and all that sweet german plonk that was fashionable to drink at the local Bernie Inn on a Sat night out eating Chicken & Chips in a basket or of we pushed the boat out it was Scampi and Chips.

      Yes I am old enough to remember it {shudder}

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: Laughing all the way to the Swiss Bank.

        >Blue Nun?

        I guess that I am showing my age, the cheapest of Rieslings that even the unemployed could afford..

        PS : I know why you shuddered. ( Definitely not what you would find in a 3 Macaron Michelin Restaurant.)

      2. Alister

        Re: Laughing all the way to the Swiss Bank.

        Are we somehow back in the 1970's and all that sweet german plonk that was fashionable to drink at the local Bernie Inn on a Sat night out eating Chicken & Chips in a basket or of we pushed the boat out it was Scampi and Chips.

        Soup in a basket...

        Always a popular fast food...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Oh dear...

    ...I'll guess his wife / brother / sister / mother / father / kids will have to be directors of his next company now.

    1. The Godfather
      WTF?

      Re: Oh dear...

      Probably already are you mean....holding all his assets too...

  4. Mike Shepherd

    Under a million?

    When HMRC (then Customs and Excise) "pursued" VAT fraud only a few years ago, the cases collapsed, because it was clear that HMCE had encouraged the fraud (estimated at about £2bn) and lied in court e.g. see Panorama 23/3/2005.

    This new case allows HMRC to announce how it shows that "we are determined to...blah, blah, blah". But the earlier losses led to no more than a wagging finger and admonition that "if you carry on like this, you won't get your knighthood".

  5. Robert Grant

    Huge strain on the public purse?

    Why not fix it by selling shares in a bank? That totally makes up for it!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Huge strain on the public purse? @ Robert Grant

      Much better idea IMHO. Sell ALL his organs one at a time to the highest bidder. That should help the public multiple ways, fast cash money for his guts, criminal off the street but not in Prison where we'd have to pay for his upkeep, doesn't deserve any compassion at all.

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