Former Magistrate Zaher Somani, 58, from Loughborough has been jailed for money laundering and tax fraud. The estimated scale of fraud was £250,000. He had built up a big property portfolio and had also sent his children to private schools, while he also an avid casino goer.
Somani was exposed as a tax evader by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators. After appearing in court, he was jailed for three and a half years. HMRC found that he had concealed his true earnings on self-assessment tax returns between 2004 and 2011.
The four co-conspirators include his wife, Ashraf, 43, brother, Pyarali, 61, sister-in-law, Shabina, 50 and officer manager Darren Green, 44; they were also given jail sentences for their part in the conspiracy. His family members helped Somani hide his companies' revenues by using bank accounts and assets in India, Morocco, Turkey, Jersey and Canada.
