A financial adviser was among six people arrested as part of an investigation into a suspected £4 million Pay As You Earn tax evasion and money laundering fraud.
HM Revenue and Customs has released details of the arrests today after raids last week. Several high performance vehicles were seized as part of the operation.

Four were arrested on Thursday in Telford and Wolverhampton and two were arrested on Saturday at Birmingham Airport as they re-entered the UK.

Officers from HMRC, supported by West Mercia Police, and Border Force searched five premises in Telford and Wolverhampton made the arrests. The ages of the six ranged from 37 to 54.

During the operation four domestic addresses, five vehicles and two business premises were searched and property including: computers, mobile phones, and business records were seized pending further enquiries.

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Richard Wentel, assistant director of criminal investigation, HMRC, said: “This is an investigation into suspected tax fraud on an industrial scale, attacking the PAYE system and associated money laundering.

“A self-styled financial adviser and five others have been arrested in connection with the investigation of which we believe involves the theft of PAYE payments collected from the employees of a number of companies in the West Midlands and Shropshire areas.

“Tax fraud is not a victimless crime and every year costs millions of pounds in lost revenue that should be funding public services. We are committed to working with our partner agencies in the UK and abroad to target those who try to rip-off taxpayers in the UK.

“Anyone with information about people or businesses suspected of being involved in tax fraud can contact HMRC through the Tax Evasion hotline on 0800 788 887.”