Family boasted they were buying properties ‘like Donald Trump’ as they fleeced Royal Mail out of more than £70million, court hears

A family of fraudsters joked they were buying properties ‘like Donald Trump’ as they fleeced the Royal Mail out of more than £70 million, a court heard.

Parmjeet Sandhu, 56, director of Tiger International Logistics Ltd and Worldwide Transport Express Ltd, and his nephew Balginder Sandhu, 46, director of Worldwide Express Ltd, lied to postal companies between May 2008 and May 2017.

In a decade-long postal con they gave untrue and misleading declarations about the quantity, weight, class and destination of mail to take more than £70million from the Royal Mail and other operators.

Narinder Sandhu, 62, Parmjeet’s brother and Balginder’s uncle, was the owner and director of Packpost International Ltd (PPIL), the catalyst of the fraud from 2005.

He lived in a multi-million pound mansion with an indoor pool and drove a Bentley and a top of the range Rolls Royce.

Parmjeet Sandhu, 56, and his nephew Balginder Sandhu, 46, were part of a scheme to under-declare mail posted through a network of logistics companies in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, pocketing millions of pounds, Southwark Crown Court (pictured) heard

Lakwinder Sekhon, 42, also worked for Narinder and Parmjeet. Together with Balginder, the four worked the fraud to line their own pockets, it is alleged.

Both Narinder and his company PPIL admitted conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Parmjeet, Balginder and Sandhu, along with companies Tiger International Logistics Ltd, Worldwide Transport Express Ltd and Worldwide Express Ltd, all deny conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Today (Tues) Mr Ellis Sareen, prosecuting, told jurors how Parmjeet was ‘integral’ to the fraud, but not rewarded as generously compared to his brother.

He said: ‘His [Parmjeet’s] rewards were commensurate with the importance of his work.

‘He did not do as well as Narinder Sandhu out of this fraud. Narinder Sandhu and his wife Jaswinder had a multi-million-pound home near Beaconsfield. As well as a Bentley, a Rolls Royce, a pool house, etc.

‘His declared income – what he was paying tax on – was about £1 million per year towards the end of the period that the fraud was running.

‘Parmjeet Sandhu did not become as wealthy as his brother Narinder, but he still made a lot of money out of the fraud.

‘In the tax year 2014/15 he declared an income to HMRC of £495,000 per annum.

‘Notwithstanding a financially disadvantageous divorce settlement, as of December 2020 he owned real property – houses, flats – worth around £2.6million, with equity of around £1.3million, largely funded from the companies involved in the fraud.

‘However, it is important not to fall into the trap of thinking that because the loss to Royal Mail was in excess of £70million, there must be a sum this large stashed away somewhere.

‘Some of the gain obtained by defrauding Royal Mail and other postal operators was passed on to customers with lower prices.’

In a text exchange in 2012, Sekhon joked that Balginder was buying properties like former US president and businessman Donald Trump.

Balginder wrote: ‘I’m doing the new invoices, which are starting today, and realised how rich ur getting n****r. Mans is smashing it.

‘U keep making big bux.’ Sekhon replied: ‘What U on about? Mans ain’t making s***’.’

Balginder said: ‘In your world Shaily [his wife] will become a wag soon. Sekhon: ‘hahahaha coming from a man buying properties like Donald Trump. I can only wish to live in Windsor’.

Balginder: ‘Ur property is like a hotel.’ Sekhon: ‘I know. I have to cook and clean for everyone’.

Sekhon worked as a mortgage broker and advisor and worked as Narinder’s ‘property man’ to find him land to invest the profits of his frauds.

‘Sekhon didn’t just find properties; he also managed them. In particular, he had a role in looking after Hadley Grange, Narinder’s mansion near Beaconsfield.’

Balginder’s role was not as central as either of his uncles’ as he worked on site on the shop floor. Mr Sareen added: ‘His role was not entirely manual work.

‘Both Balginder and Sekhon were involved in setting up new sites for collections to be made from and in liaising with Royal Mail.’

Balginder submitted a defence statement that said: ‘He is computer illiterate and had no knowledge of any fraudulent activity.’

Parmjeet was a director of all three defendant companies at various points between 2008 and 2017.

‘He was the only person with the legal power to direct the activities of the company Worldwide Transport Express Ltd.

‘He was not afraid to get his hands dirty driving a forklift from time to time. But much of his time was spent organising where mail would go – which one of the various sub-contractors would handle it – and directing the staff.

‘In his defence statement he says that, if there was a fraud he knew nothing about it. He says that he spent almost all of his working day on the factory floor and left the paperwork to others.’

Parmjeet and Balginder, both of Slough, and Sekhon, of Isleworth, West London, along with companies Worldwide Transport Express Ltd, Tiger International Logistics Ltd and Global Express Worldwide Ltd all deny conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

The eight-week trial continues.