Four members of a criminal gang have been jailed for their role in one of the biggest alcohol smuggling frauds ever uncovered in Britain.
The complex scam was worth an estimated £50 million a year in unpaid duty and VAT and allowed the men to buy fast cars and luxury homes, investigators said. They used their positions and contacts in the drinks trade to conceal dozens of truckloads of alcohol being moved into Britain without paying tax or duties in a scam known as diversion fraud. Alcohol smugglers: Gary Clarke and Kevin Burrage were convicted of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue last month while Michael Turner and Davinder Dhaliwal pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the same charges and fraudulent evasion of excise duty Gang ringleader Kevin Burrage, 49, and Gary Clarke, 55, were convicted of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue last month following a three-month trial at Canterbury Crown Court. Their accomplices, Michael Turner, 52, and Davinder Dhaliwal, 32, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the same charges and fraudulent evasion of excise duty. Sentencing them, Jud...