Family defrauded Royal Mail of £70m, court hears

The family allegedly ran a decade-long fraud operation from a warehouse in Berkshire

A family helped run a major fraud operation that cheated Royal Mail out of around £70m, a court heard.

Three men allegedly pocketed millions of pounds through a scheme where they under-declared mail in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

Parmjeet Sandhu, his nephew Balginder Sandhu and Lakhwinder Sekhon appeared for trial on Tuesday.

The three deny the charges of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between 2008 and 2017.

The men worked under Parmjeet Sandhu's brother, owner of Packpost International Ltd and "architect" of the fraud, Narinder Sandhu, who had already pleaded guilty, prosecutors told a jury.

Parmjeet Sandhu allegedly operated the decade-long scam from a warehouse in Slough, Berkshire, where his companies were based.

Prosecutor Ellis Sareen said "thousands" of items were under-declared by manipulating docket spreadsheets, beginning in 2005 and lasting until 2017, when Royal Mail investigators uncovered discrepancies.

"In this case, we will be talking about literal tonnes of mail - thousands of thousands of items," Mr Sareen added.

Mr Sekhon is alleged to have helped Narinder Sandhu find properties in which he could invest profits from the fraud.

The trio appeared at Southwark Crown Court, central London, and the trial continues.