RUCCI
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 6, 2011
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Raia wawili wa Scotland mtu na baba yake wanaotafutwa nchini Uingereza kwa tuhuma za kujihusisha na ukwepaji/udanganyifu wa kodi wa paundi milioni 109, wabainika kuishi Tanzania.
Watuhumiwa hao ambao ni mtu na baba yake, Geoffrey Johnson (baba) na Gareth Geoffrey (mwana), walihukumiwa bila kuwepo mahakamani nchini Uingereza huku wakiendelea kutafutwa.
Wiki iliyopita, Jaji aliwahukumu wawili hao kulipa deni lao la mabilioni au kutumikia kifungo cha miaka 14 jela kila mmoja. Watu hao wanatafutwa baada ya kukimbia kesi hiyo mwaka 2013 na mwaka 2014.
Chombo kimoja cha habari cha Scotland kimeeleza kuwa Geoffrey na Gareth wanadaiwa kumiliki kampuni waliyoipa jina la Johnson International Group iliyoko Kipawa jijini Dar es Salaam ikiwa imeajiri wafanyakazi zaidi ya 125. Hata hivyo, baadhi ya wafanyakazi wa kampuni hiyo wamekaririwa wakisema kuwa kampuni yao iko katika hali ngumu kifedha.
Imeelezwa kuwa wawili hao wanaishi mkoani Iringa hivi sasa na kwamba walihama kutoka Dar es Salaam baada kampuni yao kuanza kuyumba na kushindwa kuwalipa mishahara wafanyakazi wao.
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Scots fraudsters who made off with £109million are tracked to their African bolthole
Father and son Scottish fugitives who are wanted for a multi-million pound tax fraud have been tracked down to their African bolthole by the Record.
HMRC enforcers are hunting Gareth and Geoffrey Johnson, who have been ordered to pay back £109million of their ill-gotten gains .
International arrest warrants were issued for the pair after they absconded before their trials in England in 2013 and 2014.
Geoffrey, 72, and 48-year-old Gareth, who are originally from Forfar , were part of an 18-strong gang involved in a huge mobile phone VAT scam – known as a carousel fraud .
Gareth’s brother Craig was jailed in 2008 for his part in a similar scheme that netted him millions of pounds.
Last week, a court ordered the father and son to pay the huge sum or a default prison term of 14 years will be added to their sentences.
Investigators believed they were holed up in the city of Dar Es Salaam, in Tanzania.
But the Record tracked them down to a rural town called Iringa, about 400 miles away in the east African country.
The pair run the Johnson International Group – a plant hire company that employs 125 staff based on the Kipawa Industrial Estate, in Dar Es Salaam.
They are locked in a long standing battle with employees over pay.
Local news outlets reported how 40 members of staff lodged complaints with the Regional Commissioner in late 2014.
They claimed they have been “harassed” since they demanded a salary increase and also said the Johnsons had failed to “remit their pension contributions”.
According to the report, one of the Johnsons’ foremen, Leonard Lukule, admitted the company was in “bad financial shape” as it’s not getting the contracts it used to after a recent project.
He said: “We did not get any other contracts, thus being forced to send the workers on unspecified leave.”
We spoke to a source in Tanzania who confirmed the Johnsons left the coastal town of Dar Es Salaam, where most of their business activities are based, and moved to Iringa when the row began.
The contact told how the father and son own a number of sprawling developments across Tanzania including clubs and restaurants.
They added: “Geoffrey and Gareth both stay in huge houses in Iringa – there aren’t too many rich white people there so everyone knows them.
“I understand the workforce are still owed quite a lot of money. The two men left Dar Es Salaam and set up again in Iringa to start afresh.”
The Johnsons led a luxury lifestyle in Forfar before they fled the country.
The family used to live in 10-bedroom Turin House, which was recently bought for £1.2million.
The huge mansion sits in 21 acres with its own private pool.
It is now a 5-star hotel run by a reputable company unconnected to the Johnsons.
Johnson snr hired teams of builders and decorators to overhaul the stately home.
They lived in the house while working during the week.
One Glasgow builder who worked on the Forfar estate said: “It was unbelievable how much money they had.
“There were Clive Christian fittings everywhere and Gareth’s fleet of cars was crazy.
“He bought top of the range Bentleys, Ferraris and Porsches and had them parked everywhere. I don’t know how he chose which one to drive. When they weren’t using their cars they were getting flown around in their helicopter. It was a different world.
“Whenever we asked them how they made their money they quickly changed the subject. We all thought they were up to no good, but no one questioned it - they each had about five mobiles which were constantly ringing.”
The HMRC probe led to four criminal trials between 2012 and 2014.
The Johnsons were involved in the carousel fraud, which stretched across Andorra, Dubai, Hong Kong, USA, Switzerland, Portugal and the UK.
They were central figures in an 18-strong gang who came from Cheshire, East Sussex, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Wales, Staffordshire, Scotland and Spain.
They were given jail sentences totalling 135 years.
Johnson jnr ran Tectonics Holdings which played an integral role in the fraud as the money laundering arm of the operation through personal UK and offshore accounts.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2013 after being tried in his absence.
His father was sentenced to 10 years after being tried in his absence in 2014.
A third Forfar man, Albert Amritanand, was also part of the gang and was sentenced to five years in jail in 2013.
He paid back half-a-million pounds after a similar confiscation order was imposed last year.
Kevin Newe is assistant director with HMRC’s fraud investigation service.
He said: “Confiscation orders totalling more than £114million have now been made in this case.
“These latest rulings show that criminals may think they can escape justice by fleeing the country, but our investigations to reclaim their ill-gotten gains continue.
“We are determined that crime gangs such as this one should be prosecuted and then made to repay their criminal profits.”
Nick Price of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The orders again illustrate that we will work closely and tenaciously with our criminal justice partners to go after the assets of those who engage in large-scale fraud, even in the case of those who wilfully abscond from the proceedings.
“Our work does not stop here. We will continue to engage with our partners in the UK and around the world in working towards the realisation of the assets in this order. We are determined that crime will not pay.”
The Daily Record have made our file on the Johnsons available to the authorities.
Source: Daily Records
