Sarah Panitzke

Sarah Panitzke (born 3 March 1974) is a British criminal and fraudster who, until 2022, was widely described as "the UK's most wanted woman".[4][5]

Sarah Panitzke
Born3 March 1974 (1974-03-03) (age 49)[1]
York, England[2]
Other names'UK's most wanted woman'
OccupationFraudster
Criminal statusImprisoned until at least 2027
Parent(s)Leo Panitzke (father), Paula Panitzke (mother)[2][3]
Criminal chargeFraud, failure to pay a confiscation order
PenaltyEight years' imprisonment (for fraud)
Nine years' imprisonment (for failure to pay confiscation order)

Flight and imprisonment

A former private school girl at St Peter's School, York and from an already-wealthy family, she fled Britain in 2013 while on trial for a £1 billion tax scam, and was for several years the only woman on the National Crime Agency’s list of most-wanted fugitives.[6][5][4][7] She was found guilty of the tax scam and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in her absence, and was described as one of Britain's most-wanted tax fugitives.[4][5] In January 2022, she was tracked down to Santa Barbara in Tarragona, Spain, where it was said she had been living a "life of luxury" under a false identity.[7][4] She was arrested while walking her dog, footage of which was later released.[4] After being extradited back to Britain she began her eight-year sentence and was told she would not be able to apply for parole for four years (half her sentence), and faced a further nine years of imprisonment for not paying back a £2.4m confiscation order made in 2016.[4] In March 2023, she was further found guilty of this and sentenced to an additional nine years' imprisonment, meaning she will not be eligible for parole until late 2027.[7] Legally she was not able to be punished for fleeing the country while on trial, and as of 2023 none of the money has been returned.[6][7]

See also

References
  1. "Sarah PANITZKE". GOV.UK - Find and update company information. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. "Sarah Panitzke: Private schoolgirl from Yorkshire who became Britain's most wanted woman set to be jailed". The Yorkshire Post. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. "Sarah Panitze: Justice catches up with British crime queen 'Maria Antonietta'". The Times. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  4. "Sarah Panitzke: UK's most wanted woman jailed over fraud". BBC News. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. "Sarah Panitzke: UK's 'most wanted woman' jailed over VAT fraud". The Guardian. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  6. "'Most wanted' conwoman jailed after going on run to Spain for a decade". HullLive. 25 March 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  7. Kanengoni, Jonathan (27 March 2023). "One of UK's most wanted tax fugitives has sentence doubled after failing to pay back stolen millions". The Independent. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
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