17 charged in major VAT fraud probe
A total of 17 people have been charged in connection with a multi-million-pound VAT fraud investigation.
Those charged were from the Strathclyde area of west Scotland, a spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said.
The move followed a huge operation that saw arrests at addresses in Glasgow, Manchester and London.
Investigators targeted those behind an alleged international fraud ring that attacked the British tax system.
"We carried out this operation and detained 22 people, 17 of whom have now been charged. The case has been referred to the Scottish Procurator Fiscal to take on," the spokesman said.
He declined to comment further on the exact nature of the charges or the identities of those charged.
The arrests were linked to a complicated business deception known as "carousel fraud" that cost the UK up to £1.9 billion in the financial year 2004/05.
In its simplest form it involves obtaining a VAT registration number in the UK to purchase goods free from VAT in another EU state.
These are then sold on at a VAT-inclusive price in the UK, but the tax is never passed to the Treasury.
A more abusive form of the fraud, the carousel fraud, involves passing the same goods between bogus companies many times and stealing the VAT on each occasion.
