A man who is suspected on involvement in a £2m money laundering crime is being sought by Customs investigators.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is appealing for information on the whereabouts of 42-year-old Rajesh Datta, whose last known UK address was in Middlegreen Road, Slough. A warrant for his arrest was issued on July 24, 2009.

An associate of Datta’s, Sandeep Singh Gill, 41, of Framewood Road, Stoke Poges, was jailed for six years in June this year for his part in a money laundering scam which involved the development of an online banking service used by criminals to move ‘dirty’ money between bank accounts of other service ‘members’.

Chris Gill, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:“Money laundering is a serious offence, funding further criminality and denying vital public funds for the services we all rely on. HMRC is determined to make sure crime doesn’t pay and has already restrained assets worth more than £7million linked to this fraud alone.

“We are keen to speak to Rajesh Datta and urge any member of the public who may have information as to his whereabouts to get in contact with us by calling our 24-hour Hotline on 0800 59 5000.”

The scam allowed criminals to operate outside the financial controls of mainstream banking systems - to avoid detection by UK authorities. Sandeep Singh Gill’s company produced false bank statements and documents to help legitimise financial transactions of account holders. He was identified as being an integral part of the fraud and was arrested by HMRC when he returned to the UK in September 2013.

HMRC has been successful in restraining assets of £7m from companies involved in the fraud and have taken action against around 60 customers who were identified as having used the ‘money transfer’ service.

Gill was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on June 9 and confiscation proceedings are in place to claim back any financial gain he got from his involvement in this crime.