A business owner in Collier Row has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of laundering cash totalling £166,000.

Gurbax Singh, of Yeading Fork, Hillingdon, used his alcohol wholesale business Ukk Wines Ltd in Northgate Industrial Park, Collier Row Lane, to trade in non-UK duty paid alcohol.

An investigation led to Singh being arrested in June 2014 after HMRC officers observed him leaving a cash and carry in Croydon.

He was carrying a box and a black bag, which were found to contain £16,000 in cash.

Officers also found £50,000 cash hidden in the spare tyre compartment in the boot of his vehicle.

A further £100,000 cash was found, during a search of his home address, hidden in a wardrobe and sealed in carrier bags.

His accomplice, James Meekings, of Gordon Road, Thurrock, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Meekings was also ordered to undertake 250 hours unpaid work.

David Margree, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service for HMRC, said: “Singh and Meekings received substantial amounts of cash which they knew were the profits from crime.

“They had no regard that they were stealing from the taxpayer and depriving the nation’s finances of money needed to fund public services.”

The crime duo were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday.