City tax stars face charges from Revenue
VANTIS, the stockmarket-listed accountancy firm, yesterday confirmed that its two leading City accountants have been charged with a multi-million pound tax scam.
David Perrin and Roy Faichney work in the tax division of Vantis and are responsible for developing tax saving schemes for their wealthy clients which included former captain of England rugby team, and Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens.
HM Revenue and Customs claims that the two set up a detailed scheme to evade tax on £219m of income.
Faichney, a former tax inspector, is managing director of Vantis’s tax division. Perrin, who also started his career with the Inland Revenue, is a leading chartered tax adviser for the firm.
Perrin and Faichney have repeatedly protested their innocence. A Vantis spokesman told City PM: “David Perrin and Roy Faichne will be strenuously defending any charges brought against them, having received a summons to appear at Highbury Corner magistrates’ court on 30 October 2009.”
The case involving Vantis is said to involve the Gift Aid scheme launched by the government to encourage donations to charity.
Perrin and Faichney are believed to have manipulated the Gift Aid scheme to allow rich clients to claim tax relief and double their money within a few months through newly formed companies. HMRC revealed that a total of 321m shares were created in four new companies listed on the Channel Islands stock exchange.