The gang, masterminded by Paramjit “Pete” Bagri, from Holywell, North Wales, bought alcohol from legitimate bonded warehouses under the pretence of shipping them to the continent. They then illegally diverted the shipments to various locations within the UK, selling on the drink without paying the duty owed. Mike O’Grady, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: “This was a calculated attempt to defraud the public purse and to personally profit from the illegal trade. HMRC is committed to protecting public finances from attacks by organised crime, and the extra £917 million invested in HMRC will help us step up this fight. Anyone with information relating to this type of crime should contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000 to help us stamp it out.”Gang members Richard “Gerry” Ellis, 52, and Mohammed Ajmal Tariq, 51, are both currently in prison following convictions in July 2011 for their parts in the fraud. Ellis, a former pub landlord, ran a logistics company which collected the consignments of alcohol. He had paid a £120,000 ‘movement guarantee’ to HMRC allowing him to legally move alcohol between bonded warehouses which he abused in order to illegally divert the shipments without arousing suspicion. Tariq ran Direct Plus Distribution which dealt in the supply and sale of alcohol – he was linked to at least six alcohol diversions stealing well over £600,000 from the public purse.On sentencing, His Honour Judge Steiger said:“This was an ingenious and complex fraud and I am satisfied that Bagri was top of the tree”.Bagri and three men, Nadim Iqbal, Mohammed Vaqas and Baldeep Singh Tahkar, pleaded guilty before the start of their trial. Richard Gerrard Ellis and Mohammed Tariq were found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court in June 2011. Confiscation proceedings are now underway involving the analysis of how key figures in the gang attempted to evade taxes and hide the cash gained from their illegal trade. The evaded UK duty alone was given as over £1,799,448 in court. However, the confiscation will look to determine other tax evasion and criminal benefits associated with their activities.Notes to editors1. Individual details:Paramjit Bagri (DOB 10/07/66) of 2 Holway Road, Holywell, Flintshire, CH8 7NH (previously of Birkenhead, Wirral) was sentenced on 30 September 2011 to 66 months. Bagri was the ‘master mind’ behind the conspiracy. He was a co-director of MF Beers and Minerals based in Warrington, Cheshire. The company was involved in the wholesale distribution of beers, wines and spirits but has now ceased trading. Bagri was also a director of Global Distribution GB Ltd also based in Warrington. Separately, Bagri pleaded guilty to a charge concerning the attempted illegal importation of 9 million cigarettes (a potential tax loss of over £1.4 million) in December 2007 and was sentenced to 42 months for that to run concurrently. Richard Gerrard Ellis (DOB 08/08/1964) of Mauldeth Road West, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7SP. Former landlord of the now closed Southern Public House. Following an 11-week trial Ellis and Tariq were found guilty of conspiring with the others. Ellis was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to five years in jail and upon his release he will be subject to a five-year director’s disqualification. Ellis operated a transport company, JJC Logistics Ltd based in Salford, Manchester that collected alcohol consignments in the UK then altered the delivery destination once the goods were on board his trucks. When arrested in 2007 Ellis had 29 mobile phones in his possession. In court his claims not to be an ‘organiser or professional smuggler’ were rejected by the judge.Mohammed Ajmal Tariq (DOB 09/10/64) of Post Office House, Main Street, Westfield, Bathgate, Scotland EH48 3BU was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to five years in jail and a seven-year directors disqualification. Tariq was one of the principle purchasers of alcohol consignments in the Aberdeen area destined for European clients, such as in Spain and Estonia, which were then deliberately diverted to the illegal network. Samples of the missing alcohol were found on sale in Glasgow. In court he was described as having a ‘veneer of respectability as an honest businessman when he was anything but’.Nadim Iqbal (DOB 24/10/73) of 24 Netherfield Close, Oldham, Greater Manchester was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to 21 months in jail. Iqbal was one of the ‘minders’ or ‘muscle’ employed by the gang who oversaw the storage of the diverted consignments – some traced by HMRC to the Rochdale and Bolton areas. In court he was described as ‘no stranger to dishonesty or violence’ and linked to at least two seizures, however his early plea was taken into consideration for sentencing.Mohammed Vaqas (DOB 05/01/1983) of of 63 Derby Street, Rochdale, Greater Manchester was sentenced on 8 July 2011 to 51 weeks in jail suspended for 12 months plus 180 hours unpaid community work to be actioned in the next 12 months and has to pay £1,500 in costs within 18 months. Vaqas was described in court as the ‘tail end of the tail-end Charlies’ and was found to have had a lesser role as another one of the ‘minders’ or ‘muscle’ employed by the gang linked to the storage of the diverted consignments traced by HMRC and linked to only one seizure.Baldeep Singh Tahkar of Billingham, Cleveland was sentenced on 14 July 2011 to 16 months. He was the owner of Tiger Beers and Wines based in Stockton upon Tees and he was the co-owner of two shops: Booze For You in Billingham and Lifestyle Express in Hartlepool.2. The case was called Operation Installbox, and was an investigation into the diversion of commercial quantities of non-UK duty paid (bonded) alcohol. This is a form of fraud on the supposed export of alcohol from bonded warehouses in the UK to bonded warehouses in Europe. A bonded warehouse is a building in which dutiable goods can be legally stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. However, the goods never leave the country but are diverted and temporarily stored at other locations for illegal sale within the UK. On other occasions alcohol products imported from Europe supposed to be destined for the UK legitimate market were also illegally diverted in transit without duty being paid. Some of the significant seizures of diverted alcohol were made in the Knowsley area in Merseyside, Bolton and Rochdale in Greater Manchester, Walsall in the West Midlands, the port town of Dover, Gateshead, Stockton upon Tees and Birtley in the North East. 3. The men were charged with conspiracy to contravene section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 contrary so section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.4. To view the photographs associated with this release, please use the link below:http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=421427&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=2575. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk.NAT 78/11Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press enquiries only please contact: