Duty and Customs Column

Last September John Healey the Economic Secretary to the Treasury announced that 20 retired or serving customs officials had been named in the fourth impact assessment of Operation Gestalt. This is the investigation currently being carried out by the Metropolitan Police into the way in which Customs handled a series of excise diversion frauds centred on an excise warehouse known as London City Bond. In the course of this announcement Mr Healey added that the then Solicitor for Customs & Excise — the top lawyer in the department — and also the director general of law enforcement for Customs had been suspended from duty as their seniority and the broad scope of their responsibilities...