Landfill tax £78m fraud probe arrests across North East
- Published
Searches were carried out in Hartlepool in the early hours, during a series of raids across the north-east of England and Yorkshire
Fourteen people have been arrested by officers investigating a suspected £78m landfill tax fraud.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Environment Agency and police carried out early morning raids across the north-east of England and Yorkshire.
HMRC said it was looking into a "suspected systematic abuse of the landfill tax system".
Fraud investigation director Simon York said "no-one is above paying their fair and legal share of tax".
"We believe that over £78m revenue may be involved, money which could be used to fund some of the UK's most vital public services," he said.
Searches happened at commercial addresses in Gateshead, Washington, Hartlepool, Hull and Leeds and residential addresses in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Hull.
HMRC has not officially named the companies, but officers were spotted outside Octagon Green Solutions which operates from the Blaydon Quarry Landfill site in Gateshead, and at Niramax in Hartlepool.
Operators of landfill sites are required to pay landfill tax on anything left on their site as disposed waste, external, with exemptions for certain materials in some circumstances.
Details of arrests
40-year-old man from Hartlepool
49-year-old man from Seaton Carew
49-year-old man from Hartlepool
34-year-old woman from Hartlepool
35-year-old man from Hartlepool
42-year-old man from Middlesbrough
26-year-old woman from Stockton
32-year-old woman from Hartlepool
43-year-old man from Beverley
40-year-old man from Melton
29-year-old man from Brough
43-year-old man from Anlaby
23-year-old man from Willerby
49-year-old man from Hull