Offshore Tax Investigations to Come

Jeffrey Lewis has written an article on offshore account investigations by HM Revenue & Customs which has been published in this week’s Jewish Chronicle. Please click on the following link to read the article: JC Article.

New instructions for Lewis Nedas…

The firm has just been instructed in a large scale banking fraud and in two independent multi-million money laundering cases.

Success for Penny Muir’s Client

Penny Muir successfully defended a former employee of a well-known car manufacturing company accused of a number of offences of handling stolen motor vehicles and theft. This was a long running case, which ended successfully for her client who had pleaded not guilty to all counts. Penny Muir’s carefully drafted defence case statement forced the prosecution into a corner, and when they refused our reasonable requests for disclosure, which the judge ordered them to make, the prosecution was forced to throw in its hand. The judge commented that the defence case statement had “set the cat amongst the pigeons”! The defendant, who had maintained his innocence throughout, understandably was happy with this outcome.

Another Motoring Case Success for Nick Wragg

Nick represented an older driving who was originally to be summonsed for a traffic light offence. The police failed to do so within the time limits and decided to summons for failing to provide his details instead, which he had done anyway. The client became very confused about all this and found himself appearing in court for the first time in his life. He was very frightened about the whole process. Using his considerable Welsh charm Nick managed to persuade the prosecution that they and the Police had made a major mistake by issuing this summons. The CPS eventually agreed to drop the case and a defendant’s costs order was made reimbursing our client’s legal costs.

Driving Success

Keith Wood successfully defended a young driver of an Aston Martin who had been prosecuted for not having a valid UK license.

The CPS were claiming that his international permit was invalid, as he had been in the UK for a number of years. We were able to show using our intricate knowledge of motoring law that the young man concerned was not a permanent resident, even though the evidence pointed to him being in the UK for many years. The Court accepted our submissions and acquitted him of the charges, making an order in his favour for costs. The delighted driver, who was facing disqualification, commended Keith and the firm for their efforts.

Lewis Nedas to Send Delegate to Russian Law Conference

We will send a delegate to the Moscow Law Conference to be held later this month by the prestigious British-Russian Law Association.

Over the last nine years we have developed a large and energetic client base of both Russian Nationals and Russian speakers from Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to name but a few.

We advise upon issues relating to property/commercial/tax investigations and criminal matters arising in the UK and have two Russian speaking members of staff.

Offshore Tax Haven Investigations and Arrests

It seems that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have recently arrested eight individuals and interviewed them under caution in relation to offshore accounts.

HMRC estimate that some 500,000 UK residents have offshore accounts, and the Revenue has consequently created a specialist directorate to deal with offshore accounts. They are due to use specialist IT will which analyse taxpayers’ lifestyles and income to detect any anomalies.

HMRC have pledged to prosecute at last 900 people per year in relation to tax fraud offences. They claim that as a result of closer co-operation with international tax authorities and access to the Falciani list, they now know of 7,000 individuals who held offshore accounts with Swiss HSBC. According to Robert Watts in The Sunday Times (5 June 2011), HMRC have been longing to prosecute a high profile individual in relation to this particular issue for some time.

This could affect anyone with an offshore account; you do not have to be particularly wealthy. You could be arrested for tax offences, fraud or money laundering. It is important that you instruct specialist lawyers AND specialist tax accountants to deal with these issues as soon as you receive notification from HRMC. We can help you avoid prosecution and save money. Contact Jeffrey Lewis or Siobhain Egan.

New ‘Drugalyser’ in Force Soon

An article in The Sunday Times dated 5 June 2011 states that the police will soon begin using handheld drugs analysers to detect drivers under the influence of drugs. These handheld ‘drugalysers’ will be able to detect cannabis, cocaine, crack, methadone, ecstasy, crystal meth and heroin. It is likely that these will be available for police to use this year.

Please contact Jeffrey Lewis if you need advice about this issue and criminal proceedings.

New ‘Micro Sites’ Showcase Lewis Nedas Fields of Expertise

Lewis Nedas & Co have launched three new specialist websites, or ‘micro sites’, dedicated to showcasing the firm’s particular expertise in the fields of Motoring Offences, Private Client (wills and probate, estate planning and administration), and City Expertise (encompassing regulatory investigations, extradition, serious fraud defence, VAT and tax investigations, asset restraint and confiscation). Please visit our new websites by clinking the links above or at the following URLs:

http://www.lewisnedas-motoringoffences.co.uk/

http://www.lewisnedas-wills-probate.co.uk/

http://www.lewisnedas-city.co.uk/

SFO Continue Keydata Investigations & Begin EADS Enquiries

The Serious Fraud Office are keeping themselves busy after the latest government reprieve.

They are currently still chasing over £100 million worth of assets missing after the collapse of SLS Capital, and they now believe that David Elias is still alive and on the run in South East Asia, despite the fact that he was officially declared dead two years ago. Citywire have the story here.

In addition, the SFO are also now investigating the European defence group EADS regarding serious corruption and bribery allegations involving Saudi Arabian officials. Read more about this latest investigation in the Telegraph’s article here.

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