Sarah Panitzke, a money launderer and the only woman ever placed on the UK’s most wanted list, was apprehended while walking her dogs in Santa Barbara, Spain, on Sunday (February 26), after almost nine years on the run. Panitzke, implicated in a £1 billion tax scam, fled the country in May 2013 while on trial for her “key part” in the gang of 18 conspirators that carried out the scheme. Before her detention in Spain, she was supervised for many weeks. According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), she appeared in court on February 28. She was detained in a Spanish prison while extradition processes to send her back to the UK started, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Sarah Panitzke was the last surviving member of the tax evasion ring apprehended.
Panitzke was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison in her absence after an HMRC inquiry. The scammers were sentenced to a total of 135 years in prison. She was the sole surviving member of the gang who had been apprehended. Sarah Panitzke, according to the Spanish Guardia Civil, concealed in Spain with the aid of family relations there. In 2015, however, she was located in the Barcelona suburb of Olivella, where her husband gave her groceries on weekends.
Britain’s most wanted woman has been arrested in Spain, after 9 years on the run. Convicted money launderer Sarah Panitzke was detained by partners @guardiacivil in Tarragona, Spain, yesterday.
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/WDWuso8cp1 pic.twitter.com/YYpnaGK5RJ
— National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) March 1, 2022
Panitzke, who became aware of the police operation, disguised herself and left. After departing, she allegedly severed all physical ties with her family in Spain. In February, investigators received word that she was hiding in Santa Barbara. Sarah Panitzke and her associates set up a network of firms in Spain, Andorra, and Dubai that illegally acquired and sold cellphones. The fraudsters resold the phones in the UK for additional money, including tax, after obtaining them VAT-free from EU nations. The firms would dissolve and vanish after selling tiny, valuable phones that were simple to transport in and out of the nation. The fraudulent operations would subsequently be repeated indefinitely. Geoffrey Johnson, 78, appointed the group of criminals from throughout Britain and Spain. Despite seeming unconnected, the gang members are thought to have met at an unnamed party abroad, as claimed in the trial.
In a statement, NCA’s international deputy director, Tom Dowdall, said:
“For over nine years, Sarah Panitzke has been on the run. Given the amount of time, she could have assumed we had given up looking for her, but she stayed on our radar. She has captured thanks to the collaboration of UK law enforcement and our Spanish allies, and we will now seek her extradition back to the UK to fulfill her jail term.”
He also left a note for fellow fugitives, saying:
“This should serve as a message to anyone on our most-wanted list – we will not rest until you are apprehended, regardless of how long it takes.”
HMRC’s fraud investigation service director, Simon York, commented:
“Panitzke believed she had placed herself beyond of HMRC’s grasp, but thanks to our collaboration with UK law enforcement and foreign allies, we have apprehended another tax evader. No tax evader is beyond our grasp.”
York further said that over 60 fugitives had been apprehended in the last six years, saying:
“Since 2016, we have assisted in the repatriation of more than 60 fugitives, including some of the UK’s most dangerous tax evaders.”
Sarah Panitzke was born in the hamlet of Escrick, near Selby, North Yorkshire, into a wealthy family. Her father, Leo, was an insurance broker and a real estate developer. On the other hand, Leo was sentenced to four years in prison when he was detected purchasing council properties and selling them for a significant profit. She went to York College for Girls before transferring to the fee-paying St Peter’s School.
