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Hillgrove takes case to Court of Appeal

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30th Apr 2014
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Convicted fraudster Richard Hillgrove has filed his tax evasion case to the Court of Appeal ahead of sentencing next month.

Hillgrove lodged an appeal against his guilty verdict at Bristol Crown Court last week, but will likely have to wait a number of months before a single judge will grant or refuse leave to appeal.

Last month the Somerset-based celebrity PR was convicted on two counts of cheating the public Revenue. After a three-week trial the jury came to a unanimous verdict in just two hours that he had dishonestly failed to make returns for VAT and PAYE to HMRC for his limited company Hillgrove Public Relations Limited.

The grounds of appeal have not yet been made public; however Hillgrove has indicated in his firm's own PR releases that new information has since come to light, illuminating the “I was set up” conspiracy he alluded to during the Crown Court trial.

It also appears that Hillgrove’s most recent accountant Mr Shah, who he called as his witness during the trial, is no longer working for him.

Hillgrove represented himself at Bristol Crown Court with no formal legal training, but is likely to seek legal representation if the case makes it to the Court of Appeal.

Hillgrove’s PR business is still trading but a lot of the clients left after he was accused of tax fraud.

If he receives a custodial sentence, Hillgrove told AccountingWEB he would run the PR business from an open prison. “I’ll have to re-name it Prison PR,” he joked.

Hillgrove also said in a recent press release that his wife Lois is preparing to temporarily “take the helm” at Hillgrove PR should the sentencing see Hillgrove sent to prison.

Sentencing is due to take place on 27 May at Bristol Crown Court.

Replies (2)

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By MattG
01st May 2014 11:25

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"It also appears that Hillgrove’s most recent accountant Mr Shah, who he called as his witness during the trial, is no longer working for him."

I imagine most of us would run a mile having seen the previous accountants being dragged through court, even if only as witnesses. It makes you glad that unlike those in the legal profession we can pretty easily ditch/refuse a client.

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
01st May 2014 14:57

Thanks for your comment, but...

There is nothing untoward about MattG's comment, but since Mr Hillgrove has yet to be sentenced and his case is now pending appeal, we will have to close comments on this article to ensure that no prejudicial comments are posted.

 

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