Dan Neidle Profile picture
Jan 22, 2023 12 tweets 3 min read Read on X
#Zahawi update: his lawyers have written to me, denying that HMRC investigated him under COP 9, the procedure for investigating fraud. Since they are in such a helpful mood, I'm optimistic they'll answer some further questions. Full correspondence below:
My email:
The Osborne Clarke reply:
And my response:
I have updated my list of Zahawi questions to reflect the COP 9 answer.
Obvious addition: anyone thinking of sending abusive messages to Ashley should ask themselves some pretty fundamental questions.
I publish Ashley’s name because I believe lawyers engaging in SLAPP should be accountable, to the public and to their other clients.
A response from Zahawi's lawyer:
The last time Ashley suggested I contact Zahawi's press officer, it did not go well:
But I am hopeful this time is different, so:
You can bookmark this thread to catch the reply.

But I probably wouldn't bother.
I'm delighted to say I received a response to my questions. The response says that Mr Zahawi is not going to answer any questions:

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More from @DanNeidle

Mar 14
So what was the tax scheme that bankrupted Frankie Dettori, and who is the unnamed adviser who sold it to him?

And why should we feel (slightly) sorry for Dettori?

Quick thread. Image
The scheme was pretty extraordinary: Dettori made large "tax-deductible" payments to a trust from 2012 to 2017. Then the trust made large "non-taxable" payments back to him.

(My source for this is court documents which unfortunately I can't share)
It was basically magic: he signed some documents and claimed that, even though nothing really changed, he now owed a *lot* less tax. These were years when Dettori's income was at a record high: Image
Read 21 tweets
Feb 17
New report in The Times: football clubs have been claiming £millions of tax back using a tax relief intended to boost science and technology.

It's a relief that has been widely abused - wrong and fraudulent claims probably cost us all £10bn in lost tax. So were the football clubs really entitled to it?Image
Here are the conditions for R&D tax relief. It has to be an advance in science or technology. gov.uk/guidance/corpo…Image
There has been a wave of false and fraudulent R&D tax relief claims. An HMRC analysis found that an astonishing 25% of all R&D tax relief claims were wholly incorrect. Another 10% were fraudulent. Another 15% were partly wrong. gov.uk/government/pub…
Read 6 tweets
Feb 14
Here's why Trump's "VAT is a tariff" claim is beyond stupid. But also why America's *lack* of VAT puts it at an unfair disadvantage. Image
A tariff is a tax on imported goods that doesn't apply to domestic goods. So, for example, most US cars imported into the UK have a 10% tariff. .

Cars made in the UK don't face a tariff, even if made by a US-owned business.

Tariffs *are* discriminatory. That's the point. Image
Image
A US car imported into the UK also faces 20% VAT. But so do cars made in the UK.

VAT is charged on stuff *consumed* in the UK, no matter where it comes from. VAT isn't discriminatory - that's the point.
Read 19 tweets
Feb 13
A wave of ‘muppet’ directors is coming - ordinary people hired off Facebook to front fraudulent companies, while the real masterminds behind the frauds stay hidden.

It’s already a problem, but it’s about to explode. Here’s why - and how we stop it. 🧵 Image
Meet Donna: Image
Donna seems a nice person, but has a tendency to promote "get rich quick" internet promotions to her friends: Image
Image
Read 35 tweets
Feb 11
Hundreds of innocent postmasters were prosecuted for false accounting. It's a serious crime.

So what happens to a company's directors when they're caught forging, not one line, but whole of their accounts? And the High Court has said the accounts were forged? Image
This is Shree Investment plc. Its 2016 accounts weren't hugely suspicious, although the numbers look a bit round: Image
But if you don't like those 2016 accounts, they have others. Here are their amended 2016 accounts, filed just months later. It's now a £372m computer company, with accounts supposedly audited by a small firm in Chingford (who I'm guessing have no clue their name was stolen) Image
Read 11 tweets
Feb 10
We reported over the weekend on a network of fake companies that tried to steal a Ukrainian gold mine. Some of the trails lead to the KGB and apocalypse cults, and that's way beyond our little think tank.

Here's a list for any journalists/OSINT people wanting to pick it up: Image
First level of difficulty. Why were all these companies created? We know the 2019 companies were created (at the red line) to seize the gold mine. But what happened in 2012 and 2016 (the green lines)?

(interactive version of the chart: ) taxpolicy.org.uk/wp-content/ass…Image
And who kicked everything off with fake shipping company, Sunlight Maritime, in 2006? Surely not Michail Roerich, as he was 14 or 15. What was it doing? And who did it? Image
Read 14 tweets

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