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

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.