// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
On-the-run fraudster loses £90m confiscation appeal
Arif Patel, who masterminded a massive VAT carousel fraud, remains on the run
One of the UK's most prolific tax fraudsters has lost his appeal against a judge's order to repay more than £90m he gained through his crimes.
Arif Patel, from Preston, ran an international organised crime group, which stole tens of millions of pounds of public money through a complex tax fraud.
He fled the UK in 2011 and has never returned, but was eventually convicted in his absence of offences including conspiracies to cheat His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the importation and sale of counterfeit goods and money- laundering.
In a written judgment on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal rejected his claim that the size of his property empire, which had been seized by the court-appointed receiver in 2010, had not kept pace with inflation and that the judge's order had been disproportionate.
In 2023, Patel was given a 20-year jail sentence but hasn't served a day of his sentence.
Following his convictions a judge issued a confiscation order, which said he must repay £90.5m.
But despite being on the run in Dubai, Patel was able to bring a case to the Court of Appeal in London, to argue the sum was excessive.
Following Patel's conviction the judge ruled between 2003 and 2008, he'd made £52.7m through his crimes, which included £33.4m of taxpayers' money he stole through VAT fraud, and more than £19m made from the large-scale importation and sale of fake designer goods.
But when the confiscation order was made in 2025, that figure had been increased to £90.5m to account for inflation.