Fraudster told to repay £5m to Royal Mail or face jail

A fraudster who gained properties and luxury cars from a £70m nine-year postal scam has been ordered to repay more than £5m to Royal Mail or face further jail time.

Narinder Sandhu, 64, ran a postal firm and cheated Royal Mail by falsely declaring mail destinations and the number of items being sent, Southwark Crown Court previously heard. Falsely categorised mail was sent through firms in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

Sandhu, who was jailed in 2024 for four years after admitting conspiracy to commit fraud, told the confiscation hearing he was now stacking shelves at Tesco.

Judge Philip Bartle KC said the defendant would face an eight-and-a-half-year sentence if he did not pay by 15 August.

Prosecutors said the falsely categorised mail was sent through logistics companies in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire from 2008 to 2017.

Sandhu and his firm Packpost International Ltd ('PPIL') in Aylesbury played leading roles, the court heard.

The entire network of firms and individuals cost Royal Mail £70m, the firm previously said.

The defendant transferred nearly £10m to himself from PPIL, which also bought properties in which he had an interest, Judge Bartle told the court.

Sandhu owned Rolls Royce and Bentley cars and lived in a mansion - Hadley Grange in Jordans, Buckinghamshire - which was seized by police and sold for £2.6m in 2024.

Following his arrest in 2017, the defendant sent money to Dubai to try to protect it from the authorities, Judge Bartle said.

"He lied to try to persuade the court that the £770,000 was not his asset or, if it was, that it was irrecoverable," the judge added.

In 2018, Sandhu also sold two flats in Richmond, south west London, for about £290,000 less than their true value, the judge said.

Taking into account the Dubai money and the undervalue of the flats, Sandhu had £5.1m available to pay to Royal Mail, the judge ruled.

PPIL, which benefitted from the fraud to the tune of £67.3m, was ordered to repay slightly more than £865,000.