Seven people have been charged with VAT and money laundering offences following raids by Customs and Excise officers investigating an alleged computer component fraud earlier this week.

Neil Dawe, 37, of Newquay, Cornwall and Dean Simons, 34, of Hinckley, Leicester were charged with VAT offences.

Darren Cleveley, 35, and David Dwyer, 38, both of the Kings Norton area of Birmingham were charged with money laundering offences, along with Brian Tucker, 49, of Birmingham; Leroy Mcintosh, 47, of Berkswell in Coventry and Michael Marsden, 47, of Barking, Essex.

Those charged were arrested on Tuesday, along with sixteen others, in relation to an alleged multi-million pound missing trader VAT fraud. The fraud is estimated at more than £50 million and involves the purchasing of CPUs from Europe. ®