The early morning raid was conducted by 180 officers from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) with support from the Environment Agency and local police forces.
The teams searched six commercial and eight residential addresses in Gateshead, Washington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Leeds and Hull.
A total of 11 men and three women between the ages of 23 and 49 were arrested in connection with the investigation – with five of the 14 arrests made in Hartlepool.
‘Painstaking’
Simon York, director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said the raids were the culmination of 18 months ‘painstaking’ work into suspected systematic abuse of the landfill tax system.
He said: “We believe that over £78 million revenue may be involved, money which could be used to fund some of the UK’s most vital public services.
“No one is above paying their fair and legal share of tax, as the rest of us do, and we are closing in on those who try to cheat the system. HMRC, working with our law enforcement partners, will do everything within our power to catch those involved in tax fraud of any kind, and will push for the strongest punishments through the court.”
Support
An Environment Agency spokesperson added: “The Environment Agency is supporting HMRC in a major operation at locations across Yorkshire and the North East.
“We are working closely with our partner organisations to help stamp out landfill tax evasion.”
Anyone with information about suspected landfill tax fraud or other types of fraud can call the Tax Evasion Hotline on 0800 788 887.
- The investigation has attracted considerable attention in the North East throughout the day. For additional photographs and video footage of suspected premises searched this morning visit GazetteLive.
Register for free to comment