The court considered the offence of cheating the public revenue.
Held: Cheating might include any form of fraudulent conduct which resulted in diverting money from the revenue and depriving the revenue of money to which it was entitled. Michael Davies J: ‘In our judgment, ‘cheating the revenue’ can take place without any positive act of deceit or, to adopt and respectfully endorse the words of Drake J when ruling on this matter in the appellant’s first trial: ‘The common law offence of cheating does not necessarily require a false representation, either by words or conduct. Cheating can include any form of fraudulent conduct which results in diverting money away from the Revenue and in depriving the Revenue of money to which it is entitled.’ This appellant was in circumstances in which he had a statutory duty to make the VAT returns and to pay over to the Crown the VAT due. He dishonestly failed to do either. Accordingly he was guilty of cheating Her Majesty the Queen and the Public Revenue. No further act or omission required to be alleged or proved.’
Judges:
Michael Davies J
Citations:
[1987] 84 Cr App R 34, [1987] 2 All ER 758
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Approved – Regina v Redford CACD 1989
The court considered an allegation of cheating the public revenue.
Held: After citing Mavji: ‘Mr Ashe-Lincoln candidly conceded that if no distinction can be drawn in this context between an act and an omission, to use convenient shorthand, . .
Cited – Regina v Stannard CACD 1-Nov-2005
The defendant had been convicted of offences in which he had operated to purchase companies and use false debentures to evade corporation tax. Compensation had been sought under the 1988 Act. It was argued that the confiscation order should be . .
Cited – Total Network Sl v Customs and Excise Commissioners CA 31-Jan-2007
The defendants suspected a carousel VAT fraud. The defendants appealed a finding that there was a viable cause of action alleging a ‘conspiracy where the unlawful means alleged is a common law offence of cheating the public revenue’. The defendants . .
Cited – Total Network Sl v Revenue and Customs HL 12-Mar-2008
The House was asked whether an action for unlawful means conspiracy was available against a participant in a missing trader intra-community, or carousel, fraud. The company appealed a finding of liability saying that the VAT Act and Regulations . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.234401