Worst Tax Cheats Of 2012 Revealed By HMRC (PICTURES)

Worst Tax Cheats Of 2012 Named And Shamed

The top tax criminals of 2012 have been revealed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Serving a combined total of 155 years and 10 months behind bars, more than 30 of the tax cheats have been named and shamed in a Flickr campaign by HMRC.

Among them are a criminal gang which was jailed after being found guilty of one of the biggest ever alcohol smuggling frauds ever uncovered in the UK. The scam was worth £50m a year in unpaid duty and VAT and allowed the gang members to spend recklessly on high performance cars and luxury properties throughout Europe.

In another successful operation, two men were jailed for their role in a plot to smuggle nearly 24 million counterfeit cigarettes into the Midlands, after an investigation by HMRC. The conspiracy would have seen nearly £4 million drained from the UK economy through duty evasion.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said in a statement: "The government is committed to closing in on tax evaders. Collectively the 32 criminals have been sentenced to more than 150 years. Most people play by the rules and pay what they owe, but HMRC is cracking down on those who don't.

"We hope that publishing these pictures will help get across that it always makes sense to declare all your income, and tax dodgers are simply storing up trouble for the future."

See the tax dodgers gallery below...

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