HMRC tormentor joins Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay has appointed a former tax inspector who investigated the celebrity chef’s financial affairs six years ago.
Documents filed with Companies House show Trevor James was appointed as director of Gordon Ramsay Holdings on 17 August, the Daily Mail reported.
In his new position as “compliance director” the former HMRC staffer will ensure all of Ramsay’s company policies and procedures meet regulatory requirements.
James was chief interrogator during HMRC’s investigation of the TV chef’s finances back in 2005, which found no evidence of financial wrongdoing.
During the tax investigation Ramsay publicly complained about how HMRC had abused his human rights, the Mail reported.
In his autobiography, Playing With Fire, Ramsay was scathing about James, who is given the pseudonym “Mr Delve” in the book, the Mail said. Since then, however, it would appear that Ramsay has developed a grudging respect for the tax investigator who used to work for HMRC’s Special Compliance Office (SCO) in Leeds, which investigates cases where substantial tax is at stake or where fraud is suspected.
A spokesman for HMRC told the Mail: “There are rules around the acceptance of external posts by civil servants to guarantee propriety.”
What the article doesn't say is...
The investigation was in 2007. He started work there in 2008.
here's the full original article
The investigation into Mr
The investigation into Mr Ramsay’s tax affairs began in April 2005 and ended with a report clearing him of any wrongdoing in late 2007. Mr James is understood to have started working for him in the following year.
He was appointed as a DIRECTOR in August.
Smells fishy
The rules are not very strict then.
Does anybody else have questions about his independence during the investigation ?