London Fields Brewery owner Jules Whiteway arrested

Arrested: Jules Whiteway of London Fields Brewery. Photograph: Tim Sullivan

The owner of the London Fields Brewery has been arrested on suspicion of tax evasion.

Jules Whiteway was arrested earlier this week on Wednesday 3 December.

In a statement an HMRC spokesperson said: “On 3 December we arrested a 42 year old man in London on suspicion of cheating the revenue in respect of VAT.”

Jules Whiteway co-founded the London Fields Brewery in 2011, after having previously led a £10.5 million operation supplying cocaine to celebrities and City workers.

In 2004, Whiteway and three accomplices admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and were sentenced to a cumulative 36 years in prison.

Whiteway, who boasted about laundering “briefcases of cash” from the operation, received a jail sentence of 12 years.

Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the court made a confiscation order which requires Whiteway to pay the £2,137,500 profit he had made from his criminal activities.

As of September, he had repaid just £262,000.

The Hackney Citizen has asked a spokesperson for the London Fields Brewery for comment.

London Fields Brewery earlier today. Photograph: Hackney Citizen