One of Britain’s most wanted tax fugitives has been deported from Dubai after being caught travelling with a fake British passport.Geoffrey Winston Johnson, 74, originally from Forfar, Scotland, played a leading role in an 18-strong crime gang involved in a complex VAT fraud. He fled the UK in July 2014 to avoid prison.He was sentenced to 24 years in prison in his absence and both he and his son were ordered to repay £109 million worth of criminal proceeds.A statement issued by the UK's tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs, revealed that Johnson was apprehended on Friday July 7 in Dubai after using a fake passport to travel from Kenya, where he had been lying low.As soon as his true identity was uncovered, HMRC moved quickly and assisted the Dubai authorities to secure his return to the UK to face justice.Johnson was returned to the UK in the early hours of Thursday and appeared at Kingston Crown Court. He was sentenced for an additional six months for not attending his original trial and faces a total of 24 years and six months in prison.Simon York, director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “We’ve been pursuing Johnson from the day he decided to flee the UK. Despite him taking audacious measures to evade capture, we tracked him across the globe and he is now back to begin a long spell in prison. This sophisticated fraud was outright theft of money intended for important public services and it is right that he now pays the price for that crime.“Getting him back to face justice is testament to the hard work and professionalism of HMRC investigators, who uncovered and investigated his crime and successfully tracked him down with the help of the Dubai authorities.“Johnson is the sixth tax fugitive we have recovered from overseas this year alone. HMRC will always relentlessly pursue tax criminals and we are determined to ensure nobody is beyond our reach.”The gang, based in Cheshire, East Sussex, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Wales, Staffordshire, Scotland and Spain, set up a number of businesses claiming to be legitimately importing and selling mobile phones. They hid their fraud behind a complex web of transactions but HMRC investigators discovered it was all an elaborate VAT repayment fraud.