Singh Ghuman, Balbir

Balbir Singh Ghuman was convicted in March 1999 of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and received a sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in August 2002.

Mr Ghuman and his co-defendants had been convicted of conspiracy to evade VAT by removing alcoholic drinks from the London City Bond (LCB) tax warehouse and falsely representing that they were to be exported within the EU (and therefore not subject to VAT).

Following review, the CCRC concluded that Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise (HMCE, which prosecuted the case) had failed to disclose the “participating informant” status of the directors of the LCB.

The directors were facilitating the fraud at the instigation of HMCE. The CCRC considered that this information should have been disclosed and was material to Mr Singh Ghuman’s defence.

The CCRC referred the conviction on this basis in February 2003.

The Court of appeal quashed the conviction in March 2004.