A fraudster who masterminded one of the UK's largest tax frauds has been ordered to pay back more than £90million or face more time in prison.
Arif Patel, from Preston, Lancashire, was the boss of a sock-making company and created a fake luxury clothing scam with a criminal gang which he headed.
His gang stole £33.4million from the UK Government through VAT repayment claims on fake exports of textiles and mobile phones.
They also imported and sold fake luxury clothes valued at over £19million.
Arif Patel created a fake luxury clothing scam with a criminal gang which he headed
|HMRC
Now, Patel has been ordered to repay £90,503,211 which will be recovered through the sale of his properties alongside his Ferrari 575 Superamerica, which will be sold at auction.
Patel owned properties in Preston and London as well as abroad in Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
His property empire had been funded by his crimes, and were purchased through offshore bank accounts and companies.
Alongside his co-accused, Mohamed Jaffar Ali, 61, of Dubai, Patel was convicted of false accounting, conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and money laundering.
Patel has been ordered to repay £90,503,211
|HMRC
They also imported and sold fake luxury clothes valued at over £19million
|HMRC
An investigation had been launched by HMRC and Lancashire Police, and resulted in jail sentences totalling more than 116 years for 24 other gang members.
Director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, Richard Las, said: "Arif Patel lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the law-abiding majority, but he will now lose the property empire he amassed from the proceeds of crime.
"Our work never stops at conviction. For the last two years we have worked with police and CPS partners to secure one of the biggest criminal confiscations we have ever recovered.
"Tens of millions of pounds of stolen money will now go back to directly fund public services."
The money Patel has been ordered to repay will be recovered through the sale of his properties and his Ferrari 575 Superamerica, which will be sold at auction
|HMRC
Patel masterminded the scam using Faisaltex Ltd. a Preston-based import/export company.
After travelling to Dubai in July 2011, he failed to return and was tried in his absence at Chester Crown Court where he was found guilty in April 2023.
Jaffar Ali was also found guilt, and between them they were sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison.
Although the UK does have a formal extradition treaty with Dubai, it is understood to be ineffective.