The convicted £33m tax fraudster living it up in Dubai

Arif Patel, a businessman from Preston, was convicted in his absence in 2023 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading one of the United Kingdom's largest tax fraud schemes, yet he has not served a single day of that sentence. The BBC reports that he remains in Dubai, where he went after leaving Britain in 2011, and that efforts to extradite him have failed.

Investigators say Patel's textile company, Faisaltex, was at the center of a VAT carousel fraud in the early 2000s. In that scheme, chains of fake transactions were used to claim tax repayments from HM Revenue and Customs. The BBC reports that Patel stole more than £33 million of taxpayers' money and tried to steal more than £90 million, with the remaining payments stopped. Twenty-four other gang members were later convicted.

In 2025, he was ordered to repay £90.5 million through a confiscation order, but the BBC says more than a year later none of that money has been recovered.

The prime minister's anti-corruption champion told the BBC that Patel should not be beyond the reach of British justice. The BBC says it contacted the Government of Dubai and received no response, and that it also contacted Patel through his Manchester-based solicitor and his brothers. The BBC also says it does not know for certain whether Patel is connected to websites and press releases that present him as a businessman, investor and philanthropist.