Barolo swindlers avoided vast tax bill

An Italian wine firm dodged paying £40million in tax by selling hundreds of thousands of cases ‘under the counter’ for cash, a court heard. The scam at The Italian Wine Company based in Neasden, northwest London, lasted for five years before it was brought down by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Sole shareholder Livio Mazzarello, 56, managing director Steven Waters, 56, and accountant Louisa Mbadugha, 59, allegedly concealed the importation of huge quantities of wine from Europe. The deception enabled…