A tax dodging pimp posed as a plumber to con HMRC into paying him nearly £10,000 while he was running a string of Romanian prostitutes across Dundee.
Eduard Stanciu filed a false claim to the taxman and was given a rebate of £9,840.56 while he was living off the immoral earnings of sex workers imported from his homeland.
Stanciu pled guilty to charges earlier this week and returned to court on Wednesday for his crimes to be outlined.
He had initially faced human trafficking charges and after a prepared narration was given, was freed on bail but warned to prepare for prison when he returns for sentencing to Dundee Sheriff Court.
Co-accused Cristina Gaica, who admitted failing to appear in court after more serious charges against her were dropped, was admonished by Sheriff Paul Brown.
He allowed the mother-of-two to escape further punishment after being told she had spent a month in custody in Romania before being returned to Scotland to face justice.
Dundee brothels raided
The prostitution ring in Dundee was uncovered after police received a tip-off which led to raids on three properties in Blackness Road and Arklay Street in August 2019.
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan told the court Stanciu and Gaica were in a relationship and neither of them had any visible means of income while they were in Scotland.
He said police received a call from a male stating he had been at a brothel on two occasions and they visited two flats on Blackness Road.
“There were six Romanian females within flat A.
“They all confirmed they were not in any danger and were free to go about their business as they wished.
“They all admitted being involved in providing sexual services but denied it was a brothel.
“Flat B had one male (Stanciu) and three females (Gaica and two others).
“None admitted being sex workers.
“An operation was initiated to establish if there was evidence of trafficking, prostitution and associated money laundering offences.
“Stanciu was identified as a potential suspect.
“His two bank accounts showed a high cash turnover and a volume of transfers that were suspicious given his lack of declared income.
“A number of customers were identified as making payment for sexual services and they were all traced by the police.”
Tax con
The court was told Stanciu had spent more than £5,000 advertising the brothels on VivaStreet and had taken nearly £20,000 into his account from Gaica’s account.
Further financial probes were carried out and it came to light he had claimed to be a plumber so he could claim tax rebates while living off the prostitution profits.
The court heard he made no PAYE contributions at all but had managed to con the HMRC into paying him nearly £10,000 in rebates he was not owed.
Stanciu, 32, Dens Road, Dundee, admitted conning the taxman out of £9,840.56 in relation to claims over a three-year period.
He also admitted “living wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution” relating to three flats in the city’s Blackness Road and Arklay Street.
He admitted “knowingly” living off immoral earnings between September 28 2016 and August 23 2019.
A further three properties in Dundee and Kirkcaldy were removed from the original charge when Stanciu pled guilty.
Stanciu admitted that between January 5 and July 2 2019 he pretended to HMRC employees he had paid £9,794.60 tax on his income.
He claimed he had paid that tax during the financial years of 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18 and as a result was entitled to a tax rebate.
He admitted, in reality, he had paid no tax and obtained £9,840.56 by fraud.
Co-accused
Co-accused Cristina Gaica, also of Dens Road, admitted failing to appear in court on November 24 2020, having been granted bail on 26 August 2019.
Both she, Stanciu, and a third accused, Octavian-Marian Poraditu, 33, from Kirkcaldy, were alleged to have been involved in transferring unknown sums of money out of Scotland and back to Romania.
It is alleged they were involved in human trafficking and made a bid to con the taxman out of a further £23,000 by the same fraudulent means.
Those charges were dropped by the Crown as part of a plea deal and at one stage , the case was delayed as the accused had fled back to Romania.
Sheriff Paul Brown continued Stanciu’s bail and deferred sentence upon him for the preparation of background reports until August.
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