East Lothian man to relinquish £600,000 in one of the largest tax-settlement cases in Scotland

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An East Lothian man will be paying tax worth £600,000 which was unpaid in one of the largest tax-settlement cases in Scotland.

44-year-old Goljar Singh’s residence was raided by alarmed authorities who tracked him down after noticing large amount of cash deposits in his bank account.

A lumpsum of £1 million was seized from a number of his bank accounts. The money was coming to the same post office in the matter of a few weeks in March 2021, an investigation by the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) and HMRC revealed.

According to the Daily Record, the officials searched his home and found several suitcases with more than 3000 envelopes filled with cash. The total money in those envelopes is said to be over £690,000 out of which £600,000 was recoverable, Singh had confirmed.

The rest of £1 million was deposited in his bank accounts. Anne-Louise House, the head of the CRU, said, “This case has been an excellent example of inter-agency working between CRU, HMRC and Police Scotland. The resolution represents one of the largest cash sums recovered by the unit.

“The money recovered from this individual has been transferred to the Scottish Consolidated Fund which invests money to support communities across Scotland, through the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities Programme,” she said, adding, “The Civil Recovery Unit works with other law enforcement agencies to identify and recover the proceeds of crime.

Settlements such as this contribute to the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce’s goal of reducing the harm caused by criminal activity.” Singh will relinquish £600,000 under proceeds of crime legislation in an agreement with the CRU and HMRC.

Laura Buchan, procurator fiscal for specialist case work, welcomed the settlement and said, “Civil recovery is a vital tool for disrupting crime in Scotland and one of the many ways we can target those who profit from crime.

“The Civil Recovery Unit has a range of powers to target unlawful profits and the work to deter and detect unlawful activity is ongoing.” A Police Scotland spokesperson said, “This is an outstanding result and underlines the value of working closely with our colleagues in the Civil Recovery Unit and HMRC.

“These investigations can be challenging and complex but, with specialist teams working together, we can achieve exceptional outcomes. “Police Scotland’s Serious and Organised Crime Financial Investigation Unit is committed to targeting individuals and companies who profit from illicit activities, and we will use all available resources to ensure this does not happen.

“We will continue to work alongside all our partners to deter, disrupt and detect those involved in crime and seek to recover any funds derived from it.”