Operation Ghast

Typical Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) Fraud, taking advantage of the harmonisation of VAT across the EU. Trade was 'created' or exaggerated and goods and invoices were produced by a series of companies to support the fraud. This was simply a vehicle for generating VAT claims, which were then claimed back from HMRC. In this case the fraudulent claim of VAT was around £19 million and the conspiracy led to the prosecution of fourteen people involved in this chain.