Fraudster conned taxpayers out of more than £700k through bogus Gift Aid claims

A career criminal has been jailed after orchestrating an elaborate Gift Aid fraud that netted him more than £700,000 in public funds.

Abdul Robbani, 54, who lives in Chelmsford, submitted bogus charitable donation claims to HMRC over a 14-month period from March 2020 to May 2021.

The fraudster established a community amateur sports club called RMI Club, which served as a vehicle for his criminal scheme.

Through this organisation, he filed 60 fraudulent Gift Aid applications worth more than £1million.

HMRC paid out £708,750 before his scam was finally uncovered.

Robbani falsely claimed that 716 people had each given between £5,000 and £10,000 to his club.

None of these donations were genuine.

The proceeds were channelled into clearing substantial personal and family debts, including mortgages on multiple properties.

He pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court to revenue fraud alongside three counts of transferring criminal property.

The 54-year-old fraudster was subsequently sentenced to four years and eight months behind bars.

Emma Beazley of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Robbani cynically exploited that system for personal gain, pocketing hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money that should never have been his.

"He went to elaborate lengths to cover his tracks, embroiling hundreds of innocent members of the public into his scheme by falsely listing them as donors."

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Tax investigators launched their inquiry in 2021 and discovered that numerous individuals named as donors had been misled through a cryptocurrency mining venture that Robbani had promoted.

The Gift Aid programme enables registered charities and community amateur sports clubs to recover tax on contributions from British taxpayers.

Robbani has a criminal history stretching back to the 1990s, with prior convictions for deception and forgery, according to HMRC.

Authorities have already successfully seized £215,000 from one of his bank accounts.

A further £485,750 has been identified in his personal account.

Efforts to recover the stolen funds continue through Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings.

Steve Doyle, of HMRC's fraud investigation service, said: "Robbani stole money that was meant to support genuine charities and instead used it to pay off mortgages and debts."

He added: "This case shows that no matter how sophisticated a crypto scheme may appear we can and will take action."

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