Sarah Panitzke Sarah Panitzke at one point
was Britain's most wanted woman. She was #21 on the National Crime Agency's Most Wanted List, but
her face didn't fit in. Among the tough looking men with cruel expressions was a 5-foot-7 woman
with straight hair and blue eyes. She looked out of place among the other criminals on the list,
as if someone had made a mistake. But, as they say, you can't judge a book by its cover. She
wasn't the most ruthless or intimidating person on the list, but she was one of the hardest to find.
In July 2016, a series of arrests rocked the UK as British police slapped the cuffs on an
international money-laundering syndicate. Their task force, named "Operation Vaulter," uncovered
a scam resulting in the largest tax fraud in British history, totaling over 1 billion pounds.
The story splashed across media outlets worldwide, like the BBC,
Telegraph, Sky News. The 18 member gang was arrested, and all but one member went to jail.
Sarah vanished into thin air and evaded justice for years. But, who was this elusive criminal?
Privileged Upbringing Sarah grew up in the lap of luxury,
but she didn't think it was enough. As the eldest of two kids, Sarah lived in a large,
detached house in the picturesque village of Escrick, near York during the '70s. She
attended the prestigious York College for Girls before going to St Peter's School.
St. Peters claims to be the third oldest school in the world and comes with a
34,500-pound tuition fee per child. She did well in school and was known
for her confidence. Old acquaintances mentioned how well-spoken she was,
a silver-tongue that'd play a significant role in her scamming years.
Her father, Leo, built his fortune in real estate and insurance.
Neighbors said the family driveway was lined with Porsches, BMWs,
and Mercedes, a flashy statement for a man intent on showing off his wealth.
Sarah and her family were quite popular and mixed well with other wealthy British families.
Trouble in Paradise Panitzke was clever but also a bit of a rebel.
While hailed as an "outstanding" debater by her school magazine, she had a reputation for getting
in trouble. She'd often leave the house to party and smoke with other teenagers. She wasn't one to
shop with other girls but favored getting "pints" with boys her age. Her parents tried to keep her
under control by building a bar in their home garden. It came equipped with a TV and a pool
table. They wanted to keep an eye on Sarah, who was already starting to cause some trouble.
Unfortunately, their plans didn't hold up, and Sarah took off, chasing boys and the party life.
She was just 13 when she set her eyes on one man, several years her senior, who remembers
her as a silver fox. She told him to come back and visit her when she was a few years older.
Teenage summers were spent on Costa Blanca, where her parents had a second home,
and from where Sarah would fearlessly free-dive off cliffs and into the sea. A friend called
them adrenaline junkies, saying they'd go high diving off of rocky areas along the UK coast.
Sarah encouraged her friends to take the dangerous dives, but most of them backed
off. Sarah had no fear and jumped off the cliffs, free falling to the clear Spanish waters below.
Over time, Sarah fell in love with the crystal blue water and quiet coves of Spain.
Her passion for Spain became well known with British authorities,
who assumed she wouldn't be far from the coastline villas.
The family had it all between luxurious houses,
suntans, and flashy sports cars. That was, until Sarah's luxurious life came to a halt.
Like Father Like Daughter In 1993, when Sarah was 19,
her father was arrested for buying council houses and selling them early for a hefty profit. Police
caught wind of this scam and launched an investigation. He was sentenced to four
years in prison for corruption. One local said it was only a matter of time before he got caught.
In the UK, council houses are a form of public housing built and controlled by
local authorities. In 1985 and 1988, control of these houses was given to non-profit housing
associations backed by private funding. So, when Sarah's father started buying
and selling these houses to turn a profit, local authorities knew something was fishy.
They said Leo was a friendly guy. He may have been a bit loud and flashy,
but he always bragged about his work. Some people in their town considered him something of a
conman. Whispers went around that he'd fleece people and had gotten away with it for years.
The arrest derailed Sarah's life. She took time out of her studies to visit
Leo in prison. In a letter written to her ex-boyfriend, Sarah said the whole ordeal
was the worst situation she'd ever been in, only made worse when they broke up after two years.
She often visited her dad in prison, sometimes annoyed by his moody demeanor and harshness
towards her mom. But, eventually, Leo left prison and hasn't been in trouble since.
Sarah traveled to Barcelona for her Master's degree in Business Management
shortly after her father's sentencing. Over the next decade in Spain, she learned French,
worked for property rental companies, and volunteered in local non-profits.
She had a comfortable and respectable life and dreamed of eventually owning her own hotel.
But, as the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
Geoffrey Johnson Sarah followed in her father's criminal
footsteps when she worked with the infamous tax criminal Geoffrey Johnson. He helped her pull
off the biggest tax scam in British history. They met through an acquaintance, and Johnson recruited
her into his web of 18 fraudsters located ‌throughout the UK. Geoffrey also liked to
keep crime in the family business, running frauds with his son until they were arrested in 2017.
Mobile Phones So, how did the gang of fraudsters
pull off the scam? The group created a network of companies that bought mobile phones VAT-free from
Europe. Basically, these phones are priced without an added tax. VAT stands for Value Added Tax,
which is a tax that follows a particular product along the supply chain. However, the tax system is
up for debate. Some countries, such as the UK, have them, whereas the United States doesn't.
Some products, like insurance, for example, are VAT-exempt. Phones, however, usually aren't.
The group then sold these phones in the UK at a higher price, including the tax amount. After the
phones were sold, the company disappeared without paying anything to Her Majesty's Revenue and
Customs, or HMRC, a government body responsible for collecting taxes in the UK. They're basically
the IRS of the UK. Sarah's scam is called 'missing trader intra-community fraud' or MTIC.
Their network organized a carousel of companies that laundered the money around the world,
enabling them to then claim back-tax they never paid—thereby robbing the
public purse twice. First, they charged people the added tax for the phones. Then,
they claimed they had already paid taxes to the government and filed for returns.
As the money launderer, Sarah traveled to Dubai, Spain,
and the tax haven state of Andorra to clean the money the gang stole.
She also controlled the accounts of the front companies remotely through IP addresses.
A lawyer told Vice magazine that Sarah's syndicate sold more phones in one
month than the entire country put together. The VAT fraud was so successful that Sarah
laundered over £1billion, and it only took her a few years to do it.
Sarah kept up appearances throughout the scam,
holding down jobs as a hotel worker and property investor.
Living the Dream With her two dogs and long-term partner,
she lived in a gated community in a historic fishing village, about an hour from the center of
Barcelona. She enjoyed every bit of money scammed from taxpayers, frequenting the nearby town of
Sitges known as the 'Saint Tropez of Spain' due to its mega-mansions and wealthy European residents.
She spent her days enjoying the best food and wine the Mediterranean coast could offer. Her neighbors
knew she and her husband were well-off but didn't suspect she was a criminal. However, British
authorities caught on eventually, and Sarah's life of luxury soon turned into life on the run.
Taxman The fine dining and luxurious lifestyle caught
the British taxman's eyes. In 2005, HMRC noticed suspicious activity in some of Sarah's accounts
and conducted a 21-month investigation into the fraud she was a part of, code-named 'Operation
Vaulter.' The entire network was arrested and faced trial at Kingston Crown Court in 2013.
Sarah and her fellow fraudsters cried innocence,
claiming they sold the phones but weren't aware of any fraudulent sales. The jury
didn't buy it, and all 18 members received sentences totaling 135 years.
They handed Sarah an eight-year sentence, but she never showed up to accept it,
disappearing before the trial concluded. The leader of the gang, Geoffrey Johnson,
also evaded arrest by claiming he had health issues. He stayed away from police
while traveling throughout Africa until he was finally arrested in Dubai with his son in 2017.
Sarah was granted bail and still had her passport during the trial. She was allowed to travel to and
from Spain during the trial for some reason. One day, she just decided not to come back.
From then on, authorities put her on the UK's most wanted list. She was the
only woman on that list, a sore thumb among the cruelest of hardened career criminals.
The most-wanted announcement shocked her father. He said it
was terrible for his daughter to be on a list full of violent criminals.
Her brother, Leon, and other family members distanced themselves from
Sarah and her crimes over the years. Leon told Vice magazine that the saga
was incredibly difficult for everyone involved. Other family members say they
don't condone what Sarah's done and want to stay away from her reputation as a criminal.
Her friends felt differently, finding the whole thing amusing and sharing their
thoughts on social media. They wished her luck in her new life on the run.
One said she hoped Sarah was sunning herself on a beach somewhere, drinking cocktails.
The Fugitive Sarah evaded
world police organizations for the next decade. She cut off ties with her family
and missed saying goodbye to her father, who passed away in 2020. To evade capture,
Sarah hardly left her hideout. Police almost caught up with her in 2015, as they watched her
husband come and go from her house near Barcelona. However, Sarah caught wind of the police presence,
changed her appearance, and made a daring escape before they could slap the cuffs on.
Walking the Dog Justice finally
caught up to Sarah on a lazy Sunday morning in March 2022
while she walked her dog. An elite Madrid-based fugitive unit surrounded Sarah and arrested her.
This same unit took down notorious Irish gangster Gerry' The Monk' Hutch in 2021.
Sarah had been hiding out with her long-time partner and dog in the small Spanish town
called Santa Barbara. Authorities received a tip about her whereabouts in February
and were on round-the-clock Panitzke watch to ensure she didn't disappear again.
While being arrested, she looked far from the criminal type. Wearing a brown shirt,
jeans, and sunglasses, Britain's most wanted women looked no different than any middle-class person.
She didn't fit in at the Madrid prison either, awaiting deportation to the UK.
Though, Sarah isn't going down without a fight as she's trying
to appeal her forced return to the UK. Sarah faces up to 17 years of jail time,
almost double what she would have served if she never ran.
Even with the arrest, her mother Pauline says she's happy to see her daughter is still
alive. That statement is a true testament to a mother's unconditional love,
although the British taxpayers probably don't feel the same way.
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