£4.7m illegal booze mastermind told he will serve full prison term
A man who was jailed for a £4.7 million tax scam has been told by judges that he will serve every day of his prison sentence.
Peter Singh-Kunoor, of Florence Road in Smethwick, was jailed for five years at Birmingham Crown Court in June, after customs officers discovered a lorry-load of vodka which he and two other accomplices planned to sell without paying any duty.
The 36-year-old admitted conspiracy to deal with alcohol and evade excise duty and was found guilty of possession of criminal property.
He appealed against his sentence at London's Criminal Appeal Court, arguing it was 'too long' for his crimes.
But his appeal was dismissed by three of the country's most senior judges, who said the term was 'wholly merited' given the huge loss to the revenue and the professional nature of the operation.
The court heard that the gang's illicit operation came to light after HMRC officers stopped a lorry registered to Singh-Kunoor in Scunthorpe, in October 2010 that was loaded with 2,000 one-litre bottles of illicit vodka.
Investigations into the lorry discovered that it had made deliveries all over the country and that the gang had received bank transfers from people in Leicester, Slough and Merthyr Tydfil to purchase alcohol.
HMRC officers searched Singh-Kunoor's home and found £45,000 in cash hidden in carrier bags in a bedroom, along with 60 litres of spirits. A storage unit in Bilston was also raided and a further 7,000 litres of beer and 2,100 litres of wine were found.
No legitimate invoices could be provided for any of the seized alcohol, which amounted to an estimated £4.7m in evaded duty.
Lawyers for Singh-Kunoor said his jail term was over the top because the crown court judge placed the offences in too high a category of seriousness.
But, dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Phillips said: "In our judgment, this was a persistent, professional and highly lucrative fraud, in which the loss to the revenue was substantial".
The judge, sitting with Lord Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Mitting, concluded: "We are of the view that five years was wholly merited and in no way manifestly excessive."
