Teeth-whitening pair jailed over £8.5m tax fraud

Two men whose multi-million-pound teeth-whitening tax scam helped fund lavish lifestyles, including plans to build villas in Florida with matching teeth-shaped swimming pools, have been jailed.

Ian Barnes, 53, and Alastair Ramage, 44, both from Merseyside, admitted failing to pay over £8.5m in VAT and income tax from profits of importing and selling dangerous teeth-whitening products.

Their spending included £16,000 on a baseball cap, £100,000 on holidays and luxury cars. Other seized items included premium jewellery, cash and a solid gold bar.

They admitted fraud offences at an earlier hearing and were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators proved the pair laundered more than £8.5m through 118 bank accounts, credit cards and cryptocurrency trading platforms.

The men imported and sold products containing dangerously high levels of hydrogen peroxide through UK Teeth Whitening Ltd and IBAR Trading Ltd, which operated from the Seychelles and Hong Kong.

More than £3.4m of the stolen money was funnelled through accounts held at Euro Pacific Bank in Puerto Rico.

The bank was shut down in 2022 following investigations by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico.

WhatsApp messages recovered from the men's phones showed them boasting, including one from Barnes that said: "In a few hours, we'll be in 1st class" and "platinum luggage tags, that's how UK Teeth Whitening roll."

The messages also revealed they knew they were supplying dangerous products and could face prison if they were caught by HMRC.

In an exchange, Barnes wrote: "They said they used it for 30 minutes and it's taken the enamel off their teeth - dentist said they need new teeth."

Ramage added: "We're on the first plane out of here if they [HMRC] come knocking. We're talking millions and years in jail."

Barnes, from Formby, was sentenced to four years and four months, while Ramage, who had moved to Portugal, was jailed for four years and six months.

Zoe Gascoyne, director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, described it as a "sophisticated tax avoidance operation".

"Barnes and Ramage knew they were stealing from taxpayers and selling dangerous products at the same time," she said.

"Their messages show complete disregard for the hard-working majority who pay the taxes that fund our public services.

"Hiding stolen money in offshore accounts does not put anyone beyond reach and my team will now work with partners at the Crown Prosecution Service to recover the money they stole."

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