The former president of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) Andrew Meeson, alongside three business associates, has denied making false tax relief claims on behalf of pensions administration firm Tudor Capital Management.
At a recent hearing Meeson denied charges his company defrauded HMRC by more than £5m through a fictitious pension scheme, registered as Moya, between 1 January 2006 and 30 April 2010.
The trial is set to get underway at Birmingham Crown Court on 7 January 2013 and is scheduled for three months duration.
The four defendants - Meeson, Tudor Capital directors Peter Spencer Bradley, Alison Jayne Bradley and Steven Price - were charged in October last year.
They were arrested in dawn raids carried out by HMRC. Simon De Kayne, assistant director of Criminal Investigation at the Revenue, said: “Four people have been charged linked to what we believe is a fraud resulting in over £5 million being stolen from public funds. We are committed to bringing such cases to the courts and depriving those involved of the proceeds of their crime.”
Meeson stepped down from his position as ATT president the week before the charges were announced on 31 October 2011.
He also rejected the allegations and said he would be fighting to clear the company name. Meeson added: “I would like to thank my fellow officers and other ATT colleagues for their support during my time as president, and during my earlier time as deputy president and vice president. It has been an honour to serve. I wish Stuart McKinnon the very best of luck in leading the important work of taking forward the ATT’s plans for growth and providing a loud and clear voice for our members in the tax debate, including on HMRC’s Tax Agent Strategy.”
The first charge alleges the defendants made tax relief claims on contributions “that had not been made”. A second charge claiming they knowingly used a false passport in the name of Shaun Stokes has since been dropped.
One of the defendants, Steven Price, is facing three further charges and will plead guilty to two charges of forgery for creating a false passport and a driving license in the name of Shaun Stokes in 2003.
As reported in Professional Pensions, Price will also plead not guilty to acquiring criminal property through the false tax relief claims from the Moya pension scheme made by Tudor Capital Management between 1 June 2007 and 30 April 2010.
Tudor Capital Management was suspended by The Pensions Regulator from acting as trustees of schemes in conjunction with the HMRC investigation.