Sammy Wilson MP MLA

“HMRC not fighting the battle against money laundering ”

Sammy Wilson MP has said that he is ‘appalled’ at the lack of convictions in relation to money and fuel laundering in Northern Ireland.
The East Antrim MP said: “It is completely unacceptable that over the course of the last 3 years there have only been 3 prosecutions for fuel laundering offences, but of these 3 none have been sent to prison, but instead suspended sentences have been handed down.

This is a ridiculous position. It is even more senseless when we consider that these people are committing offences involving millions of pounds, but at the same time people are being put in jail for failing to pay fines for amounts as small as £50.

The simple fact of the matter is that HMRC is not doing enough to fight the battle against this kind of illegal activity. This view is vindicated further when you consider that they have only made two cash seizures from persons involved in fuel laundering over the course of the last 3 years. We must remove the perception that the Government is going easy on pursuing this type of criminal activity because it is associated with those that were involved with the IRA.
Each year fuel laundering costs the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds in lost revenue, money which I am sure most people in Northern Ireland would like to see the government spend on health, education, and roads rather than see it in the hands of criminals and fraudsters.
I urge the Government to take a much tougher line against this type of activity. There must be strong disincentives for those who take part in this criminality, and suspended sentences are not, in my opinion, an effective means of ending this activity. Longer sentences and recovering more assets from these criminals will go a long way in making it less profitable for them, and will help to eliminate this problem in Northern Ireland.”

ENDS

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