Notorious Johnson brothers found guilty in £34m tax plot

Notorious Wolverhampton brothers Carl and Tony Johnson have this afternoon been found guilty of their part in a £34 million tax fraud.

The brothers laundered money as part of a con that involved swindling cash owed to the taxman in a payroll scam.

The pair – along with the tax con kingpin Thomas Scragg – flaunted their wealth on the streets of Wolverhampton, driving around in expensive cars including a Lamborghini Murcielago, Bentley Continental, Porsche Cayenne and Ferrari Spider.

The Johnson brothers – who have a string of convictions for violence and witness intimidation – were paid around £2.4m by Scragg.

They kitted out their homes with top security equipment while 49-year-old Carl had bulletproof glass installed in his Bushbury Road home. Tony, 41, rebuilt his house on Sandy Lane, Tettenhall, with a cinema.

This afternoon, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court found the pair guilty of money laundering after spending just 45 minutes considering their verdicts.

In total, 13 people have been found guilty for their part in the huge con.

The media was prevented from reporting the case because of strict restrictions imposed by the court, but the Express & Star can today lift the lid on a five-and-a-half year police and HMRC investigation.

Det Ch Insp Shaun Edwards from West Midlands Police said: "Carl and Tony Johnson flaunted their wealth for the local Wolverhampton community to see – which is what ultimately led to their downfall. It was the law-abiding citizens of the city who came to us demanding answers about how the Johnsons were increasing their wealth.

"They were once heard to joke 'crime does pay'.

They now have plenty of time behind bars to reconsider this opinion."

The Johnsons were hired by Scragg's firm Moya Payroll, which carried out payroll services for construction companies. Moya paid workers what they were owed but kept payments that should have gone to the taxman.

Tony, of The Avenue, Bushbury, and Carl, of Bushbury Road, were found not guilty of fraud at a previous trial.

They have been granted conditional bail and will be sentenced for money laundering on July 27.

Scragg, 56, of Rotherhams Oak Lane, Hockley Heath, Solihull, is serving 17 years – one of the longest in British criminal history for fraud – for masterminding the scam and another fraud.