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 quashed because the defendant had not benefitted as alleged.
Held: The appeals failed. The court could look through the trusts established as a sham. The court considered the authorities on the offence of cheating the revenue and found: ‘(a) The offence can be proved on the basis of an omission.
(b) It can be constituted by deliberate conduct prejudicing the Revenue’s right to the tax in question.
(c) The offence can be established without loss resulting from the cheat having been proved.’ The offence had been established and the orders properly made.
Judges:
Pill LJ, David Steel, Pitchford JJ
Citations:
[2005] EWCA Crim 2717
Links:
Statutes:
Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 2, Criminal Justice Act 71
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Snook v London and West Riding Investments Ltd CA 1967
Sham requires common intent to create other result
The court considered a claim by a hire-purchase company for the return of a vehicle. The bailee said the agreement was a sham.
Held: The word ‘sham’ should only be used to describe an act or document where the parties have a common intention . .
Cited – Regina v Dimsey; Regina v Allen CA 14-Jul-1999
A deeming section could create a taxation liability, even where the liability appeared to be duplicated. The clause under which the foreign income of a company came to be chargeable did not affect the existing liability to pay tax on the sums so . .
Cited – Roger Stone (HM Inspector of Taxes) v Richard Henry Hitch; Thomas Henry Hitch and Ian Geoffrey Handy CA 26-Jan-2001
The essence of whether a deed was a sham, was whether the deed proclaimed one set of intentions, but the parties acted out another. The deeds in this case were capable of being seen as a sham as respects one or more deeds in the combination of . .
Cited – Re Walbrook and Glasgow 1994
It is for the appellant to show, on balance of probability, that the amount that might be realised in respect of property was less than the value of the proceeds of crime. . .
Cited – Gartside v Inland Revenue Commissioners HL 13-Dec-1967
Before his death, the deceased had advanced sums to his sons. The House was asked whether they were liable to Estate Duty.
Held: Lord Reid said: ‘no object of a discretionary trust has, as such, any legal right to or in the capital’, although . .
Cited – Jackson v Jackson 1973
Provided an application for ancillary relief has been made prior to the decree absolute dissolving the marriage (for example, by a Petitioner in the petition for divorce) the jurisdiction to entertain an application for ancillary relief application . .
Cited – H M Customs and Excise and Another v MCA and Another; A v A; Re MCA CA 22-Jul-2002
The husband and wife divorced and a property adjustment order applied for. The husband had been convicted and a drugs proceeds order made under the 1994 Act. The order had not been satisfied, and the receiver applied for money from the matrimonial . .
Cited – In re Peters CA 1988
After the defendant was arrested for drugs offences a restraint order was made to prevent dissipation of his assets. Orders were made to vary the restraint to allow payment of his sons school fees, and in family proceedings for a payment to his . .
Cited – 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 – H M Customs and Excise and Another v MCA and Another 18-Apr-2002
The court held that they were not precluded by an application made under the 1994 Act against assets of the husband from making an order in favour of the wife under the 1973 Act. The court discharged the Receiver appointed under section 29(2) DTA . .
Cited – Regina v Mavji CACD 1987
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. . .
Cited – Regina v Less and Depalo CACD 2-Mar-1993
The defendant appealed his conviction for cheating the public revenue.
Held: The court approved the judge’s direction to the jury as follows: ‘The next direction I have to give you is what in law is cheating the Public Revenue. To cheat, . .
Cited – Regina v Hunt 1994
The defendant appealed his conviction for conspiracy to cheat the Inland Revenue was challenged on grounds which included the fact that the prosecution was unable to show that the appellant had benefited from the proceeds of the fraud.
Held: . .
Cited – Regina v Soneji and Bullen HL 21-Jul-2005
The defendants had had confiscation orders made against them. They had appealed on the basis that the orders were made more than six months after sentence. The prosecutor now appealed saying that the fact that the order were not timely did not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime, Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 04 July 2022; Ref: scu.231649
