Tax fraudster has £90m property empire confiscated

An on-the-run fraudster will lose his £90m property empire, a judge has ruled.

- PAT HURST

Sock manufacturer Arif Patel, 57, from Preston, Lancashire, will have homes and business premises he owned taken from him after a confiscation order granted by a judge at Chester Crown Court.

Patel, who now lives in Dubai, masterminded a gang that was convicted in 2023 of one of the UK’s biggest carousel tax frauds. Carousel fraud is a complex scam where criminals create chains of fake business transactions to steal VAT repayments.

Goods are moved between different companies in a circular pattern, creating false export and import records that criminals use to claim back large sums from tax authorities. Patel has now been ordered to pay back £90,503,211 with the sale of his properties in Preston, London and overseas. And his Ferrari 575 Superamerica will be sold at auction.

His operation stole millions of pounds through VAT repayment claims on false exports of textiles and mobile phones. They also imported and sold counterfeit clothes that would have been worth at least £50m, had they been genuine.