A WOMAN from Leytonstone has been ordered to pay more than £346,000 for her involvement in an income tax scam.

Assima Sami, 38, of Vernon Road in Leytonstone, was found guilty of obtaining a money transfer by deception after she helped her mother and sister in the fraud.

If she does not repay the cash within six months she will go to prison for three years.

She must also do 180 hours community service.

It comes after her sister Ibtesam Sami, 41, of Princes Court in Wembley, and their 60-year-old mother, Nusrat Sami, of Brondesbury Villas in Kilburn, failed to pay over £600,000 in tax on multiple properties they rented in east and west London.

Ibtesam Sami has already handed over £10,000 but was ordered to pay £43,291 in costs and must do 200 hours of community service.

Nusrat Sami has repaid over £880,000 and was sentenced to 42 months in prison at an earlier hearing in June.

Andrew Pavlinic, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), said: “This case of blatant fraud is a further example of our determination and success in bringing to justice the criminals behind this type of fraud and ensuring that they do not profit in any way from their crimes.”

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