Formerly one of the UK’s most wanted women, a former public schoolgirl has seen her sentence more than doubled for a massive fraud that laundered nearly £1bn.
Sarah Panitzke, 48, lived a life of luxury in Santa Barbara, Spain, before she was spotted walking her dogs and recaptured last year after nine years on the run from the IRS.
The organized crime gang member was jailed for eight years for the original crimes in June 2022. She and her 16 co-conspirators received sentences totaling more than 135 years.
Panitzke was given a further nine years in jail at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on Friday for failing to pay the £2,455,913 forfeiture order. He still owes the full amount plus interest.
The total amount outstanding, including interest, which continues to accrue at a rate of £538 per day, reached £3,782,779 in February 2023.
Panitzke (left) was given a further nine years in prison at London City Magistrates’ Court on Friday. She was finally recaptured in Spain in 2022 after almost a decade on the run.
Panitzke was identified as part of an organized crime group responsible for laundering approximately £1bn of mobile phone VAT fraud. She and her accomplices were originally sentenced to 135 years total.
Panitzke, originally from York, went on the run in May 2013 while on trial for money laundering offenses and subsequently appeared on National Crime Agency (NCA) Most Wanted appeals.
After hiding under a false identity for nine years, she was arrested by the Spanish Civil Guard while walking her dogs in a town in the Tarragona region.
Nicol Sheppard, deputy director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said Panitzke’s actions had deprived the UK of vital public money.
He said: ‘Panitzke was part of a criminal gang that stole millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and deprived our public services of vital funds. He didn’t return the money he stole and now faces even more time behind bars, and he still owes the money.
‘Sarah Panitzke played a key role in a sophisticated multi-million pound fraud, laundering extraordinary volumes of stolen money through offshore bank accounts.
“The gang he was a part of established numerous businesses that claimed to be legitimately importing and selling mobile phones.
The former public school girl previously told Spanish judges that she would prefer to be sentenced there.
“But the companies were a front for an elaborate scheme to steal more than £20m in VAT refunds.”
HMRC uncovered a complex web of transactions that they used to launder stolen money through bank accounts in the UK, Andorra, Dubai, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Portugal and the US.
The fraudster is believed to have led a life of luxury in a gated community in the hills of Vilanova i la Geltrú, an hour from the center of Barcelona, before justice finally caught up with her.
The fraudster previously told Spanish judges that she wanted to be sentenced in Spain due to her ties to the country.
She also claimed that her husband, who lives in Spain, only has 10 years to live and would not be able to visit her in Britain if he were to be extradited.
Panitzke was identified as part of an organized crime group responsible for laundering approximately £1bn of mobile phone VAT fraud.
During the scam, she was part of a group of companies that bought cheap mobile phones abroad without VAT before selling them in Britain for big profits.
All the others had been caught, found guilty, and sentenced, but she remained a fugitive for nearly a decade, escaping before the trial concluded.
Panitzke is said to have grown up in a wealthy family in the village of Escrick, near Selby, North Yorks (when she was arrested last year).
NCA deputy international director Tom Dowdall said after her arrest: ‘Sarah Panitzke has been on the run for almost nine years.
“Given the time that passed, she might have thought we had stopped looking, but she remained on our radar.
“Joint work between UK law enforcement and our partners in Spain led to his arrest, and we will now seek his extradition to the UK to serve out his prison sentence.
“This should serve as a warning to others on our most wanted list: we will not rest until you are captured, no matter how long it takes.”
Panitzke is said to have grown up in a wealthy family in the village of Escrick, near Selby, North Yorks.
She attended York College for Girls before moving on to St Peter’s School, which is the third oldest in the world.
His father, Leo, a residential property developer and insurance broker, was jailed for four years for buying council houses and selling them early for a large profit.
