A Calderdale oil dealer has been jailed for selling potentially harmful illegally laundered fuel to unsuspecting customers which may have damaged their cars.

Anthony Knight, of Styes Lane, Sowerby Bridge, operated an illegal fuel laundering plant capable of evading £1.6m in duty a year, an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed.

He has now been jailed for three and a half years.

The fraud was uncovered when officers visited his business, Manor Oil Company Ltd, on Buckstones Road, Oldham, in August 2016, and found the laundering plant in an outbuilding. Knight told HMRC the unit was rented by a man named Tom, but investigations revealed this was a lie.

Illegal fuel laundering plant operated by Anthony Knight

Storage tanks, equipment and 2,500 litres of red diesel were seized from the unit. Officers also found 24 tonnes of silica gel which is used to strip the government markers from the diesel. A forensic expert estimated the silica gel would be able to launder approximately one million litres of red diesel.

Suspicions were raised after HMRC’s Road Fuel Testing Unit visited a number of Knight’s customers and found traces of the laundered fuel.

Illegal fuel laundering plant operated by Anthony Knight

Timothy Atkins, Assistant Director for Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Knight conned his customers into buying illegal fuel which can damage car engines. He stole money which should have been used to fund our public services. He thought he could get away with it, but he was wrong, and now he is paying the price behind bars.

“Fuel fraud costs millions of pounds in lost duty every year and it creates an uneven playing field for honest businesses.”

Investigations found the laundering plant was capable of evading £1.68m duty over a 300-day period. The plant setup was estimated to be worth £135,000.

Illegal fuel laundering plant operated by Anthony Knight

Knight admitted excise fraud at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court but denied operating the plant, claiming it was not active when discovered. At a trial of issue the court ruled Knight was fully culpable for the laundering plant.

Jailing Kinight, Judge Driver QC and also disqualified him from being a company director for five years.

Proceedings are now underway to recover the lost duty.

Anyone with information about tax fraud should report it to HMRC online or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788887.