A convicted fraudster has been ordered to repay £90million through the sale of his property empire and Ferrari supercar.
Sock manufacturer businessman, Arif Patel, 57, who is on the run in Dubai, was handed a 20-year jail sentence two years ago.
He was the mastermind behind a scam to set up fake business transactions on goods moved between various companies, creating false import and export records which were then used to claim back large sums of VAT.
Patel and his accomplices also imported and sold counterfeit clothes and invested their criminal earnings into a global property portfolio.
The fraud was uncovered after a joint investigation involving customs officers and Lancashire Police over more than 10 years.
Dozens of containers full of fake designer clothing worth £50million were stopped at ports including Liverpool, Southampton and Felixstowe. Police also intercepted a delivery to a Glasgow wholesaler.
After a trial at Chester Crown Court in 2023, Patel, who ran Preston-based textile firm Faisaltex, was found guilty of false accounting, conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, conspiracy to sell bogus goods and money laundering.
He was jailed for 20 years in his absence.
Sock manufacturer Arif Patel, 57, 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’s Ferrari 575 Superamerica will also be sold at auction
At the same court this week, Judge Steven Everett ruled Patel should now repay £90million – to be taken from his seized UK assets – including properties in Preston, London, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Mr Everett also ordered the auction of Patel’s £225,000 Ferrari 575 Superamerica. In 2011, Patel went to Dubai but never returned.
Co-accused Mohamed Jaffar Ali, 61, was jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of fraud and money laundering. Ali, who was ordered to repay £677,000, is also believed to be in Dubai.
Twenty-four other gang members were given jail terms totalling 116 years.
Richard Las, director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: ‘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.
Patel, who now lives in Dubai , masterminded a gang that was convicted in 2023 of one of the UK’s biggest carousel tax frauds. Pictured: Fake goods intercepted by customs officials
‘Tens of millions of pounds of stolen money will now go back to directly to fund public services.’
Mark Winstanley, Lancashire’s assistant chief constable, added: ‘He 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, £478million has been recovered from CPS-obtained confiscation orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending.
‘More than £95 million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation.’