Paul Bell settles with HMRC for £67m

[Banker]

19 minutes ago, Gizo said:

Thanks. Just as I suspected.  
 

suppose bigger fish to fry like benefit fraudsters!

It’s nothing to do with Manx authorities it’s HRMC and if you’d read the posts above you’d have seen it’s in court next week!!

[Kipper99]

41 minutes ago, Banker said:

It’s nothing to do with Manx authorities it’s HRMC and if you’d read the posts above you’d have seen it’s in court next week!!

Next weeks case is entirely Manx, Mr Green KC is instructed by the Island Police/Manx authorities, no one else.

The case has nothing to do with HMRC, or any UK body.

Mr Green was appointed as an acting IoM AG specifically to act in place of John Quinn, around 2014/5. The then acting AG was conflicted and there wasn’t a deputy. However things changed, the office of Solicitor General was created to act as AG in case of conflict/non availability of the AG. The legislation that made the appointment of Mr Green, to cover conflict,  possible didn’t preserve the power of appointment used to appoint Mr Green so his appointment ended. And, as if that wasn’t enough Mr Quinn died. But no one on his team or at the AG’s appeared to notice.

There is now a new AG and SG, and at least one has no conflict.

The reasons for Mr Greens appointment came to an end, but he carried on regardless.

There may, or may not, be proceedings in England about HMRC or Customs & Excise against Mr Bell.

[Mr Helmut Fromage]

2 hours ago, Banker said:

It’s nothing to do with Manx authorities it’s HRMC and if you’d read the posts above you’d have seen it’s in court next week!!

It’s in a Manx court ffs 🤦‍♀️ 

Its half term next week so you can’t grass teachers for enjoying themselves as you twitch the curtains 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Mr Helmut Fromage

[Banker]

6 minutes ago, Mr Helmut Fromage said:

It’s in a Manx court ffs 🤦‍♀️ 

Its half term next week so you can’t grass teachers for enjoying themselves as you twitch the curtains 

Still enjoying your Government job Bill?

[Mr Helmut Fromage]

34 minutes ago, Banker said:

Still enjoying your Government job Bill?

Just hired another one this week 20% increase in headcount - so similar to the Government bloat - 25th coming so your bank pension rolls in soon Bob 

[Banker]

13 hours ago, Mr Helmut Fromage said:

Just hired another one this week 20% increase in headcount - so similar to the Government bloat - 25th coming so your bank pension rolls in soon Bob 

Bank pensions aren’t inflation linked like yours though 

[Fred the shred]

Banker have you heard anything about the gas explosion in Jersey ? Has there been any news about the cause ?   I am asking you because you seem to have connection.   There were numerous lives lost so there must have been a Coroners court.

[Roger Mexico]

18 hours ago, Kipper99 said:

Next weeks case is entirely Manx, Mr Green KC is instructed by the Island Police/Manx authorities, no one else.

The case has nothing to do with HMRC, or any UK body.

[...] The reasons for Mr Greens appointment came to an end, but he carried on regardless.

There may, or may not, be proceedings in England about HMRC or Customs & Excise against Mr Bell.

You're rather contradicting yourself there![1]  How much Mr Green is under the instruction of the current Manx authorities is another matter.  They don't seem to be in any hurry to relaunch the prosecution, though they have the excuse that Green is appealing the ruling.  But Corlett's judgment was very much a belt-and-braces one - if this wasn't invalid because of X it was also because of Y,Z,Q etc.  So I can't see much hope.

Now Green isn't doing all this off his own bat .  KCs don't start paying to prosecute people in other jurisdictions from the goodness of their heart - technically the litigation is in his name and he's paying all the costs.  So presumably the UK Government is behind this - at least ultimately.

The only thing I can think of is that the criminal case is being brought as a way of pressurising Bell into settling up with HMRC over various disputed matters in the UK[2].  The would explain the lack of enthusiasm from the Manx authorities, as if the criminal case actually happens and goes wrong they have to pay all the associated costs, damages etc on top of costs of prosecution.  As I've said earlier the fact that this was challenged at summary court stage suggests the case may not be strong.  So for IOMG the costs would all be theirs but the benefits only for the UK.

As Private Eye has been continuously chronicling the Serious Fraud Office in the UK has been more willing to cut deals in recent years to avoid prosecution, possibly under the influence of their recently-departed Director who is from the US where such things are common.  But because the SFO is so under-resourced and investigations frequently dropped or mishandled, if such deals are refused, those accused may still escape successful prosecution.  So whether there would be support for such pressure being applied with a change of SFO leadership is another matter.

 

[1]  Not disagreeing with your excellent and concise summary of the case, which I omitted, at all.

[2]  Effectively this means John Wright and possibly Mrs Bell are collateral damage as it's not aimed at them

[Kipper99]

6 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

You're rather contradicting yourself there![1]  How much Mr Green is under the instruction of the current Manx authorities is another matter.  They don't seem to be in any hurry to relaunch the prosecution, though they have the excuse that Green is appealing the ruling.  But Corlett's judgment was very much a belt-and-braces one - if this wasn't invalid because of X it was also because of Y,Z,Q etc.  So I can't see much hope.

Now Green isn't doing all this off his own bat .  KCs don't start paying to prosecute people in other jurisdictions from the goodness of their heart - technically the litigation is in his name and he's paying all the costs.  So presumably the UK Government is behind this - at least ultimately.

The only thing I can think of is that the criminal case is being brought as a way of pressurising Bell into settling up with HMRC over various disputed matters in the UK[2].  The would explain the lack of enthusiasm from the Manx authorities, as if the criminal case actually happens and goes wrong they have to pay all the associated costs, damages etc on top of costs of prosecution.  As I've said earlier the fact that this was challenged at summary court stage suggests the case may not be strong.  So for IOMG the costs would all be theirs but the benefits only for the UK.

As Private Eye has been continuously chronicling the Serious Fraud Office in the UK has been more willing to cut deals in recent years to avoid prosecution, possibly under the influence of their recently-departed Director who is from the US where such things are common.  But because the SFO is so under-resourced and investigations frequently dropped or mishandled, if such deals are refused, those accused may still escape successful prosecution.  So whether there would be support for such pressure being applied with a change of SFO leadership is another matter.

 

[1]  Not disagreeing with your excellent and concise summary of the case, which I omitted, at all.

[2]  Effectively this means John Wright and possibly Mrs Bell are collateral damage as it's not aimed at them

Roger.

1. Green is paid by IoM Treasury, not the UK. This case is IoM only.

2. As Bell is alleged to have settled any HMRC claims and penalties, and is facing trial on the substantive offences alleged, in England, how can the Manx proceedings put any pressure on. That’s the SFO case.

3. Let’s assume Green did not appeal, or loses this appeal, then any decision to start new prosecutions by AG’s ( presumably licensing Mr Green in the process, to advise ) would be an administrative decision open to a whole new set of administrative law grounds, such as delay, second bite, and the fact that this is all supposed to have happened 15 years ago.

Suspect that after the Corlett judgment there was urgent and heated discussion between Treasury and Green, and possibly the Solicitor General, as to which route to go down, re charge, drop, appeal.

My info is that Green & team have cost the IoM over £5 million so far. It’s a bit like Liverpool. They think they’re too far in to abandon it.

[Roger Mexico]

Latest news in this is that appeal court did overturn the ruling that Green could not bring the prosecution, so everything may (or may not) be back on again.  The full ruling is here:

https://www.judgments.im/content/2DS23_016-13Nov23(a).pdf

It includes a bit more on the background to the case:

3. In July 2000 the First Respondent, Paul Bell, was declared bankrupt by the Isle of Man High Court. Nine years later, in 2009, Paul Bell paid debts of around £733,000 to the Isle of Man Income Tax Division in order to apply to have his bankruptcy discharged by the High Court. It is the prosecution case that these debts were all paid on Paul Bell’s instructions, using bankers’ drafts drawn on accounts of companies that Paul Bell owned and controlled.

4. It is the prosecution case in relation to the alleged perjury offences that in order to avoid scrutiny as to the origin of Paul Bell’s wealth, Paul Bell and his wife, the Second Respondent, and John Wright gave false affidavit evidence to the High Court that Paul Bell’s debts were paid by his wife, thereby committing conspiracy to commit perjury. In addition, it is alleged that Paul Bell held assets in the Isle of Man, including £2.85m of cash, which he failed to disclose to his Trustee in Bankruptcy, thereby committing Bankruptcy Code offences.

[Ham_N_Eggs]

52 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Latest news in this is that appeal court did overturn the ruling that Green could not bring the prosecution, so everything may (or may not) be back on again.  The full ruling is here:

https://www.judgments.im/content/2DS23_016-13Nov23(a).pdf

It includes a bit more on the background to the case:

3. In July 2000 the First Respondent, Paul Bell, was declared bankrupt by the Isle of Man High Court. Nine years later, in 2009, Paul Bell paid debts of around £733,000 to the Isle of Man Income Tax Division in order to apply to have his bankruptcy discharged by the High Court. It is the prosecution case that these debts were all paid on Paul Bell’s instructions, using bankers’ drafts drawn on accounts of companies that Paul Bell owned and controlled.

4. It is the prosecution case in relation to the alleged perjury offences that in order to avoid scrutiny as to the origin of Paul Bell’s wealth, Paul Bell and his wife, the Second Respondent, and John Wright gave false affidavit evidence to the High Court that Paul Bell’s debts were paid by his wife, thereby committing conspiracy to commit perjury. In addition, it is alleged that Paul Bell held assets in the Isle of Man, including £2.85m of cash, which he failed to disclose to his Trustee in Bankruptcy, thereby committing Bankruptcy Code offences.

Why would anyone have £2.85 million in cash just laying around the place?

[Dirty Buggane]

Carol singer's

[Declan]

Carol Singer's what?

[Roger Mexico]

12 minutes ago, Ham_N_Eggs said:

Why would anyone have £2.85 million in cash just laying around the place?

Mr Bell does seem to have a habit of this:

Police and customs officers executed search warrants at the two addresses in March 2015 as part of an inquiry codenamed Operation Braid being carried out jointly in the island, the UK and Guernsey.

It is alleged that Mr Bell presided over a complex organised crime group suspected of being involved in an attack on the UK tax system. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs believe the group evaded some £21m in VAT.

Mr Bell, however, has not been charged with any offence. But details of allegations concerning him have now been made public in a court judgment.

He was arrested at Heathrow airport on March 18 2015 while returning from a trip abroad. He had £5,000 in cash on him at the time.

A total of £484,951 was seized from his home in Onchan and £16,000 from the Douglas business address. Searches conducted at addresses in the UK recovered some £347,000 in cash.

Some of the cash found in the safe and garage at the Onchan address was in various foreign currencies.

In court he was described as the ‘controlling mind’ behind island-based Regency Travel, which is being wound down and is to close later this year.

An application for the forfeiture of the cash was made by UK barrister Timothy Sinclair Green on behalf of the Attorney General.

During a previous appearance before the Deputy High Bailiff, Mr Bell stated that the cash was his but declined to say where it came from, arguing this could prejudice any criminal trial.

The forfeiture application heard that Mr Bell is suspected in the UK of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, conspiracy to evade VAT and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime. He is also suspected in the Isle of Man of money laundering, conspiracy to do an act against public justice and conspiracy to money launder. In Guernsey he is suspected of money laundering.

Though it's possible that "cash" here is being used in the accounting sense - ie including money in bank accounts etc.

[Non-Believer]

17 minutes ago, Ham_N_Eggs said:

Why would anyone have £2.85 million in cash just laying around the place?

To pay his lawyer's fees? 🤭