Abbas Lakha KC successfully secures deferment of sentence in £3.6 million tax evasion case at Leeds Crown Court

The Defendants were two brothers who have been very successful property developers in Yorkshire. They bought a piece of land from the Council for about £600k and within months got planning permission to build a significant number of homes on the land propelling its value to £11 million plus. They promptly transferred the ownership of a large chunk of the land to a Gibraltar company for peanuts and then realised the profit within that off shore company.

When HMRC got involved the shares were further transferred to a BVI company and, on inquiry, claimed that the entity was nothing to do with them and the beneficial interest was owned by an Iranian National and they were holding it on trust for him. HMRCs case was that this was all a subterfuge to evade tax. They failed to properly engage in a COP 9 procedure and were eventually prosecuted.

They faced a sentence of 6 years plus. Abbas Lakha KC negotiated a deal whereby sentence was deferred and upon full payment the Court, that will be submitted, has to pass a sentence which does not involve immediate custody.

Abbas regularly undertakes tax fraud and evasion cases on behalf of clients with a view to achieving a negotiated settlement.

Read full case summary here