Barristers

This case has been widely reported as the largest VAT fraud ever prosecuted, with an estimated loss to the Revenue of £365 million. Jonathan led two juniors on behalf of the Crown.  The first defendant was a serving police officer at the beginning of the fraud.  There were 8 defendants, 6 of whom were represented by silks.  There were 50,000 pages of statements and exhibits and millions of pages of unused material.  The defendants eventually pleaded guilty 2 weeks into the listed trial.  Jonathan is currently instructed to deal with confiscation.  The case received substantial publicity in the national TV and print news.

R v Marsden and McIntosh [2011] EWCA Crim 1501; [2011] 4 All E.R. 917; [2011] S.T.C. 2349; [2012] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 60; [2011] Lloyd's Rep. F.C. 577; [2011] Crim. L.R. 814; [2011] S.T.I. 1940;
 

This is the leading case in relation to the calculation of realisable and hidden assets.  Jonathan was leading counsel for the Crown in an appeal to the Court of Appeal in relation to 2 confiscation orders of £3.6 million each.  The case involved a reconsideration of a number of the leading authorities in respect of realisable and hidden assets, in particular RCPO v Telli.  The court clarified the test in relation to the calculation of hidden assets and the case is now the leading case on the topic.  The orders were upheld.

R v Sander -[2009] EWCA Crim 2377; [2010] 1 Cr. App. R. 20 (p.285), [2011] 1 Cr. App. R. 6
 

Jonathan led for the Crown in the prosecution of Mr Sander in relation to the laundering of £7 million that was the proceeds of MTIC fraud.  At the initial trial the jury were tampered with and the Judge ruled that he would complete the trial without a jury.  This was the first time that such an order had been made under the new law.  There followed 2 interlocutory appeals, both heard by the Lord Chief Justice.  The case was eventually heard by the Recorder of Birmingham with a protected jury.  The defendant was convicted on all counts.  Jonathan is currently conducting the confiscation proceedings.

R v Ahmed and Ahmad [2012] EWCA Crim 391; [2012] S.T.I. 546
 

Jonathan was led by Sir Derek Spencer QC in a confiscation case that resulted in orders of £184 million being made, the largest ever in the UK.  Since the orders were made Jonathan has dealt with the substantive hearings in the Court of Appeal in relation to both the appeal against the confiscation order, but also the application for Judicial Review made by the defendants in respect of their committal to prison for 10 years for non-payment.  The applicants were unsuccessful in their JR proceedings.  The case is currently under appeal to the Supreme Court.

Jonathan Kinnear led in the prosecution of four defendants for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, in an investigation by the City of London Police Economic Crime Department. The defendants conspired together fraudulently to obtain a bridging loan of £1.5 million. They used two fake sheikhs to pose as wealthy Arab brothers, Malthoum and Saeed Mebjar, who claimed to own a £6 million property in London’s West End to secure the loan. The property, which was on sale, was “hijacked” using details obtained from the Land Registry and by the production of a number of false documents.

This was a very substantial MTIC fraud prosecution.  The loss to the Revenue was in excess of £175 million.  There have been 4 trials, leading to the conviction of 15 defendants.  Jonathan acted as the lead disclosure counsel, in a team of 5 counsel (headed by Michael Brompton QC), and was responsible for all disclosure policy and issues at substantive hearings.  The first defendant received a sentence of 17 years, believed to be the longest sentence ever imposed for fraud.  Jonathan is currently instructed to conduct the very substantial confiscation proceedings, where the alleged benefit runs into hundreds of millions of pounds.
 

Jonathan led two juniors in the successful prosecution of an accountant and two property developers charged with evading over £1 million in income tax, through the double manipulation of their accounts and tax returns. The case involved the management of over one million pages of unused material and extensive evidence from forensic accountants.  Jonathan conducted the confiscation proceedings at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, leading to an order of over £1 million.

Operation Callous -  R v Rana and Others

 

Jonathan was instructed as leading counsel in the prosecution of an accountant and four other defendants in a VAT repayment fraud, causing a loss to the Revenue in excess of £2.5 million. 

Operation Wembley, R v. Sidhu and others – 

 

Jonathan was instructed as leading junior in the successful prosecution of five defendants in relation to cheating the Revenue of PAYE, NI contributions and VAT, through the manipulation of trading and accounts of companies involved in the supply of labour to the construction industry, including a number of high profile projects such as the new Wembley Stadium.   He currently has conducted of the substantial proceedings.

R v. C and others – 
 

Instructed as leading junior in successful confiscation proceedings against eight defendants convicted of a variety of conspiracy to cheat the Revenue and money laundering offences. Total assessed benefit figure was in excess of £80 million and many millions have been confiscated. 
 

R v. Powell and others ­
 

Represented the defendant in the SFO prosecution in the Cheney Pension case which involved the asset striping of a company pension fund. 
 

Operation Aware, R v. Wing and others – 
 

Instructed as leading junior in the successful prosecution of six defendants for conspiracy to cheat the Revenue of PAYE, NI contributions and VAT through the supply of labour to the agricultural and packing industries. Conducted the substantial contested disclosure proceedings. 
 

Operations Devout I and II ­ [2010] EWCA Crim 66; [2010] Crim. L.R. 578, 
 

Junior counsel in a series of 6 trials over 3 years that resulted in the successful prosecution of twenty-five defendants for their involvement in VAT carousel fraud and the related money laundering. Issues in the Court of Appeal included matters relating to disclosure, bad character and inferences from silence in interview. The case involved multi-jurisdictional confiscation proceedings involving the movement of money through trusts and bank accounts in Jersey, the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein, Dubai and Switzerland. 
 

Operations Capri II and III ­ [2008] EWCA Crim 1477
 

Originally junior counsel, latterly leading counsel in the successful prosecution of fifteen defendants for corruption, VAT fraud and the related money laundering, including a senior officer of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and a bank manager. 

http://www.cnplus.co.uk/hot-topics/legal/wembley-and-white-city-labour-supply-trio-jailed-over-771k-tax-fraud/5211486.article  
 

First-tier case involving appeal against decision to deny VAT input tax of £20 million. 
 

HMRC v. Radarbeam [2010] UKFTT 431 (TC)
 

First-tier case involving appeal against decision to withhold repayments of £4.5 million. 
 

Deandrake Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2011] UKFTT 250 (TC)
 

HMRC v Martem [2011] UKFTT 641 (TC) 
 

First-tier case involving appeal to withhold VAT input tax of £5 million.
 

Jonathan is currently instructed to represent the Commissioners of HMRC in fifteen other cases, each involving the denial of millions of pounds of VAT reclaims. 
 

Contested restraint proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal relating to applications to release millions of pounds of assets from restrained assets.
 

Jonathan is currently advising the AADB in relation to the following cases:-

An investigation under its Scheme for the accountancy profession into the conduct of a Member of the ICAEW and of HWCA Limited, the former auditors of Worthington Nicholls Group Plc until 4 December 2007.
 

An investigation into the conduct of certain Members of professional accountancy bodies who were involved in the events leading up to the collapse of European Home Retail plc and Farepak Food & Gifts Ltd.
 

An investigation under its Scheme for the accountancy profession into the conduct of Members and of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as auditors to Cattles plc.
 

An investigation under its Accountancy Scheme into the conduct of KPMG Audit plc as auditors to BAE Systems plc.