A couple in Stamford Hill have been fined over £100,000 for using their minicab company as a front to illegally trade tobacco.
Minicab driver Stanley Orenstein, 52, and his 49-year-old wife, Danielle Orenstein, were given jail sentences for stealing £138,000 in Tax Credits, Income Tax and National Insurance.
Their prison sentences, which have been suspended, risk being reinstated if they fail to pay back the money within six months.
The couple were arrested as part of an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK tax office, which began in 2008. Officers discovered during their enquiries that the couple were selling illicit cigarettes and tobacco from their cab office.
The couple were found to have used the proceeds to buy two properties in North London, as well as fund investments and property in Israel.
John Cooper of the HMRC, said: “To the man in the street the Orensteins appeared to be running a legitimate business, but it was really a front for wider criminality.
“HMRC won’t stop in our efforts to track down cheats who rip off honest, law abiding people who pay what is due, when it is due. This money is vital to keep our country running and provide the public services we all need and use.”
The HMRC investigation revealed Stanley Orenstein did not declare his earnings as a self-employed mini-cab driver. He pleaded guilty to evading tax on the sale of cigarettes of £14,000 and on his mini-cab earnings of £15,000.
A judge handed him a 16 month prison sentence, suspended for one year, and ordered him to repay £54,500 within six months. Failure to make the payment would see him sent to jail for nine months.
The investigation also revealed his wife Danielle Orenstein, a cab driver who managed the couple’s business, had lied about their earnings to get extra Tax Credits.
