Former HMRC employee spared jail after helping ex-husband launder more than £3m

Kuldip Badesha, 46, was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months on Wednesday at Southwark Crown Court after admitting misconduct in a public office.

Badesha’s ex-husband, Ranbir Singh, 46, was jailed for six years for two offences of money laundering after he was convicted of laundering £3.3 million between 2015 and 2018.

Judge Adam Hiddleston said he accepted Badesha, a former compliance officer, “felt obliged” to help her ex-husband and “didn’t make any profit” from her actions.

The judge said Badesha “assisted” Singh in registering bogus companies through the submission of letters, which included fake National Insurance numbers and signatures, to Companies House.

He said Badesha provided her ex-husband with “false documents” purported to have come from HMRC, who she worked for at the time, adding that she “didn’t know” what use the letters had.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Hiddleston told Badesha, of Kent: “You are someone that has worked all your life and through this you have lost everything that you have worked for.

“What you did was to use your position of considerable trust as a no doubt valued member of the HMRC team to lend legitimacy to a claim which was not true and which you knew to be a lie.”

Judge Hiddleston said Badesha’s offending could have the effect of “undermining” public trust in the tax, payments and customs authority.

He said he accepted she had displayed “genuine remorse and regret”, telling Badesha: “You are someone who has never been in trouble before.”

The judge added: “You are in employment and have worked hard to maintain employment despite losing your position at HMRC. There is a more than realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case. I’m sure we will not see you before the courts again.”

Badesha was also sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid work and five days of rehabilitation activity requirements.

Ben Rollins, head of anti-corruption at HMRC, said: “This was an appalling breach of trust from Kuldip Badesha. She abused her position to help her husband launder millions of pounds.

“Money laundering allows criminals to profit from the misery they inflict on their victims and often funds even more serious crimes. We are absolutely committed to the highest level of integrity and will track down the tiny minority who let us all down by falling short of those standards.”

Badesha met Singh, also known as Ray Singh Rana, just before he was jailed for 11 years for kidnap in 2008, HMRC said. She continued the relationship when he was inside prison and married him while he was on weekend release in May 2013.

The criminal money began to be laundered when he was on day release and continued after leaving prison on licence in June 2014, the tax authority added.

Badesha did not change her surname or tell HMRC about her marriage and failed to notify HMRC of her partner’s arrests and convictions.

HMRC investigators discovered Badesha was leading a lifestyle beyond her means, which included leasing an expensive Bentley car and enjoying long-haul holidays She was arrested by officers from HMRC’s anti-corruption unit in 2018 and dismissed in November 2019.

Judge Hiddleston said Singh’s case involved “significant planning and sophisticated offending over a period of years”, adding that he had an “appalling history of offending”.

The judge told Singh, of Great Barr, Birmingham: “You used the existence of those bogus companies to open bank accounts.”

Singh did not look at Badesha as he was led away from the dock after being jailed.