Manchester tax adviser arrested in suspected £132m tax fraud swoop

A TAX adviser from Manchester has been arrested as part of a HM Revenue and Customs investigation into a suspected £132m tax fraud.

More than 30 officers from HMRC searched four residential addresses in the North West and Midlands, including one in Cheshire and business premises in Greater Manchester, during morning raids on Wednesday. Computers, business and personal records were seized during the operation.

The arrests were made following an HMRC investigation into a complex scheme involving offshore trusts used by professional financial advisers to facilitate UK individuals to avoid around £132m in income tax.

The three men arrested were from Greater Manchester (56), Derbyshire (67), and Warwickshire (59). All have been interviewed and released on bail pending further enquiries.

Paul Maybury, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “These arrests show that we are determined to tackle not only those suspected of tax fraud, but also the professionals who we believe abuse their position of trust to help them do it.

“The vast majority of taxpayers pay the tax they owe, but for those who don’t we will not hesitate to use our full range of powers to ensure that nobody is beyond our reach.”