A fraudster once labelled Britain’s most wanted woman for her part in a £1billion mobile phone VAT scam is beginning an eight-year jail sentence, after absconding during her trial and spending almost a decade on the run.
But Sarah Panitzke, 48, a former private schoolgirl from a wealthy family, will not face any penalty for absconding as her extradition from Spain was not related to her skipping bail. was not extradited for skipping bail. Sentencing her at Kingston Crown Court yesterday, Judge Sarah Plaschkes KC said her hands were tied and she couldn't increase Panitzke's sentence for her being on the run.
Instead, she reimposed the sentence handed down in Panitzke's absence after she was convicted of conspiracy to acquire criminal property in 2013. And the court was told the defendant, who was arrested in Spain in February, could be jailed for a further nine years in due course for failing to repay more than £2million she owes.
