A Romanian pimp conned UK taxpayers out of nearly £10,000 while running a string of brothels across a Scottish city.
Brazen crook Eduard Stanciu was claiming dodgy tax rebates for his business while he was living off the earnings of the prostitutes he managed in Dundee. Stanciu spent three years getting HMRC to pay him tax refunds by submitting false claims when his business was to profit from the illicit sex trade.
At Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday Stanciu, 32, admitted conning the taxman out of £9,840.56 in relation to claims over a three-year period. He also admitted "living wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution" relating to three flats in the city's Blackness Road and Arklay Street.
He admitted "knowingly" living off immoral earnings between 28 September 2016 and 23 August 2019. A further three properties in Dundee and Kirkcaldy were removed from the original charge when Stanciu pled guilty.
Stanciu, of Dens Road, Dundee, admitted that between 5 January and 2 July 2019 he pretended to HMRC employees that he had paid £9,794.60 tax on his income. He claimed he had paid that tax during the financial years of 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18, and as a result was entitled to a tax rebate.
He admitted that, in reality, he had paid no tax and obtained £9,840.56 by fraud. Co-accused Cristina Gaica, 33, of Dens Road, admitted failing to appear in court on 24 November 2020, having been granted bail on 26 August 2019.
Both she, Stanciu, and a third accused, Octavian-Marian Poraditu, 33, from Kirkcaldy, were alleged to have been involved in transferring unknown sums of money out of Scotland and back to Romania. It is alleged that they were involved in human trafficking and made a bid to con the taxman out of a further £23,000 by the same fraudulent means.
Those charges were dropped by the Crown as part of a plea deal, and at one stage in proceedings, the case was delayed as the accused had fled back to Romania. Stanciu and Gaica had been due to appear in the dock at Dundee Sheriff Court during 2020, but neither turned up and warrants had to be issued for their arrest.
Fiscal depute Marie Lyons said: "The Crown has information to suggest both accused have returned to Romania. That is based on police intelligence."
The accused returned to Dundee and two admitted charges, while Poraditu's not guilty pleas were accepted and he was formally cleared. The case was deferred for a Crown narrative and for further details of the background to the offences to be heard later this week by Sheriff Paul Brown.
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