In Dosanjh & Others v HMRC (2012/4167 – 17 December 2013) the trial judge had sentenced each of the defendants (found guilty of MTIC fraud) for the offence of conspiring to cheat the public revenue. Dosanjh received a sentence of 15 years imprisonment the other two defendants received sentences of 11 and nine years.
The appellants had been convicted of conspiracy to commit the common law offence of cheating the public revenue. Had they been convicted of statutory fraud or VAT offences they would have been liable to maximum penalties of ten and seven years respectively. They therefore argued that it was wrong in principle to pass a sentence on a common law conspiracy that was longer than the maximum penalty available for the equivalent statutory offence.
The tribunal disagreed noting that Parliament had created statutory offences of fraud and conspiracy to defraud to which maximum penalties apply...
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