Michael Voudouri: Britain's most wanted tax fugitive

One of Britain's most-wanted tax fugitives has been arrested in Cyprus after spending months on the run.

Michael Voudouri was seized at his home in the north of the country after allegedly using a forged passport, Police in Scotland said.

He was listed among the UK's 10 most wanted tax fugitives last August after failing to appear for sentencing in connection with a multimillion-pound scam.

Michael Voudouri had pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow in relation to money laundering linked to VAT fraud but failed to appear for sentencing last March.

The 46-year-old crook fled to the Med to escape a 10-year sentence for a £10million VAT fraud.

He was tracked down to a luxury bolthole in Cyprus and has since been seen in Ayia Napa.

Yesterday he was named on a hit list of millionaire tax avoiders on the run from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

According to the Sunday Mail , Voudouri fled Scotland last year and went into hiding with his wife Chrystalla and daughters Georgina and Nicolette in a four-bedroom villa on the outskirts of Kyrenia, where he remained untouchable to UK authorities.

The family also cleared out their £2m mansion in Bridge of Allan, near Stirling, saying: “We won’t be back.”

Voudouri was jailed for four years in 2004 when he admitted a £3m VAT scam – though he was suspected of stealing 10 times that amount.

Last year, he pled guilty to siphoning off £10m to European countries including Cyprus.

He was bailed but failed to turn up for sentencing in November.

Voudouri was originally accused of laundering £48m stolen by firm Q-Tech Distribution.

In June, a dirty cash case against him had to be postponed for six months at the High Court in Edinburgh after the Crown admitted they had been unable to trace him.

The court hearing relates to Voudouri’s Bridge of Allan home, which has been targeted under proceeds of crime laws.

In March, Voudouri’s lawyer Richard Housley and accountant Caroline Laing were jailed for six-and-a-half years for their part in an international money laundering network they set up for him.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lindsey Miller, head of the Crown’s serious and organised crime division, said: “After an extremely complex investigation, today we have seen justice delivered to individuals who participated in money laundering and fraud on an industrial scale.

“The investigation into their crimes has spanned the globe, with our economic crime unit gathering evidence from companies and financial institutions in the UK, Greece, Cyprus, Switzerland, the US and the British Virgin Islands.

"This case powerfully demonstrates the ability of our specialist units to prosecute cases of the utmost scale and complexity and bring to justice all those who seek to benefit from crime.”

Voudouri was the top Scots target on a new most-wanted list issued by Chancellor George Osborne.