Sean Larkin QC and Jocelyn Ledward successfully represented the former Chief Executive Officer of a company said to be at the heart of substantial tax cheat.
He was the only defendant acquitted by the jury following a 10 month trial at Southwark Crown Court.
The prosecution case covered a period of 7 years in which high net worth investors were persuaded to invest substantial sums of money in carbon credit schemes to be executed abroad said to generate sideways loss tax relief against income tax. The system involved a complex web of companies set up in multiple jurisdictions transferring funds through bank accounts and trusts based in Isle of Man, Mauritius, Switzerland, Cyprus, Holland and elsewhere. The prosecution case relied on evidence from a number of directors, accountants, financial advisors and lawyers.
There were substantial pre-trial legal arguments including a significant argument on the issue of managing vast sums of digital material and the application of the LPP and disclosure principles leading to the leading case of R v R and others [2016] 1 Cr App R 20.
Sean Larkin QC and Jocelyn Ledward were instructed by Rachel Hubbard of BCL Solicitors.
Read Sean Larkin QC's article for Lexis Nexis on cheating HMRC here.
Jocelyn Ledward KC
Sean Larkin KC