Former Crawley Town chairman who led crime gang that stole more than £16 million in taxes is ordered to pay back £80,000

Shafqat Majeed, 54, was jailed for ten years in 2021, for leading the multimillion-pound VAT and excise fraud operation, while living a life of luxury in a million-pound home in Hove, East Sussex, and driving expensive cars.

HMRC said Majeed, the former chairman of Crawley Town FC, was part of a criminal gang, that had links to Hove, Shoreham, Crawley and Burgess Hill.

The crime gang smuggled vast amounts of illicit alcohol into the UK and stole more than £16 million in taxes. They were jailed for a total of more than 34 years.

On Wednesday (April 19), a confiscation order was made and Majeed was ordered to repay £80,000.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “Our work doesn’t stop at conviction and we always look to recover the proceeds of crime.

“Majeed was declared bankrupt leaving limited assets worth around £80,000 for confiscation. We will go back to court if we find Majeed has more assets to recover more of the money he stole.”

Majeed orchestrated a criminal operation where huge quantities of alcohol was smuggled into the UK and sold via a wholesale company under his control called South Coast Wholesale Ltd. The company operated from two premises – Palace Drinks, in Shoreham-by-Sea, and Kaka Cash and Carry, in Manchester.

According to HMRC, the gang set up and used a fake network of businesses and supply chains, supported by reams of paperwork detailing fictitious transactions, to cheat the VAT system and evade paying excise duty.

Majeed and ten other gang members were sentenced in 2021 following two separate trials and sentencing hearings at Southwark Crown Court.

An investigation by HMRC revealed the gang used a sophisticated network of fake businesses and created a trail of false paperwork on an industrial scale to cover up the conspiracy.

Other Sussex gang members included Sayed Shah, of Commonwealth Drive in Crawley, Liam Chenaf, of Woodfield Road in Crawley, and Daniel Booth, of Commercial Road in Burgess Hill.

Other gang members included Clare Hill, Casey Ruse, Ahmer Shafig, Jibran Khan, Zoheb Malik, Rahid Akram Khan and Mohammed Arfan Sadiq.

Zoe Ellerbeck, operational lead in the fraud investigation service of HMRC, said, “This was a highly sophisticated fraud which deprived £16m from our public services, NHS and emergency services, that so many of us depend on.

“Majeed and his associates committed serious crimes and now they have to face the life-changing consequences.

“The majority of individuals and businesses pay the tax that is due – however there remains a determined minority who refuse to play by the rules. We encourage anyone with information about tax crime to report it online, or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

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