Stealing Tax Cash

By

Ricardo Swire

Two Caribbean islands are in the spotlight of a £100 million international law enforcement investigation. Antigua & Barbuda and the Federation of St Kitts & Nevis join India, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates, as issuant of high value contracts to a wanted UK businessman, Peter Singh Virdee. The property magnate and chairman of the “Virdee Foundation” charity, which assists vulnerable women and children with £200,000 annually, is in British law enforcement’s custody.

On January 10 2017 the Metropolitan Police Service’s Extradition Unit officers detained the 43 year old UK Sikh known as ‘Batman’ after he arrived at Terminal 4, Heathrow Airport in London. Prior to the arrest ‘Batman’ traveled from Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Englishman’s real name featured on an October 4 2016 European Arrest Warrant, wanted by German authorities for tax evasion.

Federal Criminal Police discovered that from 2008 to 2012 the English entrepreneur coordinated a “VAT Carousel” scam, mainly using European Union (EU) Carbon Offset Credits. Certificates that give permission to emit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Normally traders export Carbon Credits from one EU member state to another. Such activity gives the trader an advantage of EU VAT rules. Carbon Credit sales are classified as exports therefore VAT is exempt.

In Batman’s scheme traders charged clients VAT on sales but never declared the money, conmanship that replicated another British businessman’s 2014 £700 million tax fraud, classified by German prosecutors as a VAT Carousel scam. The 56 year old Huddersfield, West Yorkshire entrepreneur was arrested in Las Vegas by US Secret Service agents. He operated a chain of companies in the UK and was registered as a director of electrical parts and car rental businesses.

‘Batman’ sold high value Carbon Credits imported to Germany free of VAT, but still charged VAT on permit sales. Collected tax cash was never paid to German authorities. Frankfurt prosecutor’s office sought the English businessman regarding £110 million worth of illegal transactions. The Antigua & Barbuda and St Kitts & Nevis investor’s B&S Property is registered in Mayfair, West End London. Established in the mid-1990s B&S Property promotes real estate as its core business. The company has entities in renewable energy, spread betting, insurance brokerage, pharmaceuticals and health care.

Through B&S Property ‘Batman’ invested in a one thousand acre development in Antigua & Barbuda. The project comprised a five-star hotel, restaurant, two marinas and one eighteen hole golf course at Gravenor Bay on Barbuda, PV Energy, one B&S Property renewable energy entity, built and installed VC Bird International Airport’s solar power plant. B&S Property boasts more than £5 billion worth of international assets.

Ricardo Swire

Ricardo Swire is the Principal Consultant at R-L-H Security Consultants & Business Support Services and writes on a number of important issues.