Three Keltbray managers and the owner of Tony Demolition Workers have been jailed over the corruption charges
Southwark Crown Court found Arben Hysa, 56, owner of Tony Demolition Workers Ltd, guilty of bribing the three former Keltbray managers, Michael McCarthy 64; Simon Lacey, 53; and John Burke, 56.
The bribes took place between 2012 and 2018, totalling over £600,000.
Jurors heard how from February 2013 to June 2018, McCarthy accepted £292,211.72, Burke received £217,160.86, and Lacey £91,521.79. Burke reportedly spent his ill-gotten cash on exotic holidays.
Hysa, Burke and McCarthy were sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment, whilst Lacey was sentenced to two years.
The bribery caused Tony Demolition Workers to benefit from £15m in specialist contracts
Michael McCarthy, Simon Lacey, and John Burk, were found guilty of receiving bribes in order to give preference to Tony Demolition Workers for specialist labour contracts.
Hysa was found guilty of six counts of bribery, whereas Lacey, McCarthy, and Burke were found guilty of two counts each of accepting bribes.
Andrew Cant from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “Corruption in the construction industry distorts competition between companies and makes the UK a less attractive marketplace for domestic and foreign investors. McCarthy, Lacey, and Burke ignored the rules in respect of their obligation to act in the interests of their employer Keltbray when dealing with external contractors by accepting significant sums of money from Arben Hysa.
“The CPS will now commence confiscation proceedings in order to reclaim the ill-gotten gains of the defendants’ crimes.”
A crackdown in construction crime?
Earlier this year, HMRC and Kent Police concluded an investigation into, and prosecution of a construction tax fraud ring, convicting seven members on various charges.
The group would systematically withhold tax money (VAT) from HMRC, making agreements with construction and logistics companies acting as fronts to divert the money.
Over time, the group was found to have profited £22m in unpaid tax, as well as a further £2m from supporting a large-scale drug supply operation in the south east of the UK.
One member, Phillip Bailey, was also under investigation for firearms, theft, and money laundering offences when the ring was discovered, and the rest of the ring were gradually identified from there.
At the time, constable Dameon Shaw, lead detective on the investigation, said: “These criminals set up and ran a large-scale operation designed to steal VAT and CIS payments, which were then paid out to themselves and criminal associates. They are now paying the price for their actions with the sentences handed out by the court today.
“Tax fraud is not a victimless crime; the public rely on the revenue generated by tax to fund essential services. No matter how hard they tried to conceal their illicit gains, our expert investigators were able to unravel their web of lies.”
