4 hours ago
Sarah Panitzky was arrested in a Spanish city last February
Sarah Panitzky, once described as Britain’s “number one wanted”, has been jailed for her involvement in a massive scam.
Banitzky, 48, escaped in 2013, while on trial for her role in a £1 billion tax fraud.
Banitzky spent nine years on the run, before she was arrested while hiking with her dog in a coastal city in Spain, last February.
Banitzky was brought before a court in London after her deportation to the United Kingdom.
She was initially charged with conspiracy to illegally acquire property in connection with her role in a tax fraud in 2010, and was convicted in absentia in 2013.
Banitzky was sentenced to eight years in prison, to begin immediately after she appears in court, Judge Sarah Blaschkes said Friday.
picture released, National Crime Agency
Sarah escaped during her trial in 2013
The judge re-read the sentence issued in 2013, before adding, “This sentence will start today after you have been extradited to this country.”
Banitzky, who was part of a scheme to launder money through accounts outside Britain, was told she would spend at least four years behind bars before being eligible for parole.
She was also ordered to forfeit funds worth £2.4m in 2016.
She was given three months to pay the full amount or face an additional nine years in prison.
No money was paid under this ruling, which left the amount plus the interest rate, bringing the total in May to £3.4 million.
picture released, HMRC
Sarah Panitzky has been handed over to the British authorities
The deputy international director of the National Crime Agency, Tom Doddell, said Banitzky had been on the wanted list for a decade and that her imprisonment was the result of “years of hard work”.
“Banetzky thought she was out of the way,” said Simon York, director of the Royal Revenue and Customs Commission’s Fraud Investigation Service.
“No tax criminal is out of our reach,” he added.
A spokesperson for the authority said Banitzky played a “pivotal role” in the fraud and laundering of “unusual amounts” of stolen funds through offshore bank accounts.
Banitsky and 17 of her co-conspirators were sentenced to prison terms totaling 135 years for fraud.