A convicted kidnapper with a long history of criminal behavior has been jailed after involving his ex-wife, a former tax worker, in laundering more than £3 million. Ranbir Singh, 46, from Great Barr, was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a sophisticated money laundering operation that spanned from 2015 to 2018.
His ex-wife, Kuldip Badesha, 46, from Kent, received a 14-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Southwark Crown Court on November 27. Badesha admitted to misconduct in a public office after being implicated in the illegal scheme.
The court heard that Badesha’s lavish lifestyle caught the attention of HMRC investigators, who discovered her expensive Bentley and overseas holidays that were inconsistent with her salary. Badesha, who had worked for HMRC, was arrested in 2018 by the authority’s anti-corruption unit and was dismissed from her position in November 2019.
Judge Adam Hiddleston, who sentenced Singh, described his case as involving “significant planning and sophisticated offending over several years,” noting Singh’s “appalling history of offending.” Singh, who was previously jailed for 11 years in 2008 for kidnap, had used a network of bogus companies to carry out the laundering scheme, opening bank accounts to funnel the illicit funds.
Although Badesha was involved in registering fake companies and submitting forged documents to Companies House, the judge acknowledged that she felt “obliged” to assist Singh and had not profited from the crime. Singh’s scheme began while he was on day release from prison and continued after he was released on licence in 2014.
Badesha did not inform HMRC of her marriage to Singh or his criminal history, further complicating the case. Despite her lack of direct profit, Badesha’s involvement in submitting false paperwork was crucial to the operation’s success.