R v Jamil Sekyanzi – HMRC Gift Aid Fraud

Following an HMRC investigation and a four-week trial before HHJ Wall and a jury at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Jamil Sekyanzi was convicted of two counts of Cheating the Revenue and related money laundering offences. The allegations concerned  a £3.8m fraud on the Revenue. Mr Sekyanzi, who was the Senior Pastor of a Pentecostal Church submitted fraudulent Gift Aid claims over a 7 year period inflating the Church’s donation income by in excess of £18m. On 6 December 2023, Mr Sekyanzi was sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment.

Nicholas Hearn and Lily Roberts-Phelps were instructed by the Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate (CPS).