Indirect Tax - Bark & Co Solicitors - Specialist Fraud Firm

http://www.barkco.com/Expertise/Indirect+Tax


Indirect Tax
Indirect taxes, predominantly Value Added Tax and excise duties, are now a common subject of civil litigation. Litigation of this kind often involves a department of Government such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs making allegations of fraud or dishonesty against legitimate businesses and their directors.

The Commercial and Indirect Tax Fraud team at Bark & Co has an excellent reputation for successfully negotiating and litigating a wide range of disputes. We have a large team of specialist

Areas of Expertise:

The specialisations of the Commercial and Indirect Tax Fraud Team include:

• VAT Fraud
• MTIC Fraud
• Carousel Fraud
• Knowledge/Means of Knowledge Input Tax Denial
• Invalid Invoice disputes
• Assessments of VAT and/or Excise
• Excise Diversion Fraud
• Seizure of goods upon importation
• Repayment Supplement Appeals (delayed authorisation of VAT returns)
• Default Surcharge Appeals
• Extended Verification of VAT returns
• Freezing and Restraint Orders

Our team retains litigation expertise in all the relevant forums, particularly in the VAT and Duties Tribunals and the High Court.

Current cases include high profile MTIC and Carousel fraud allegations amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds that are set to test both UK and European legislation.

Money laundering - Bark & Co Solicitors - Specialist Fraud Firm

http://www.barkco.com/Expertise/Money+laundering

As one of the leading serious fraud firms in UK, Bark & Co regularly have to advise their clients on the implications of money laundering charges which often accompany investigations and prosecutions of fraud. UK legislation is wide ranging and recent changes to the law have increased the likelihood of money laundering charges being pursued vigorously by the authorities. The team at Bark & Co are experts in the interpretation of the law and in particular the parameters open to the prosecuting authorities in respect of money laundering charges.

In the UK, primary legislation on money laundering includes the Terrorism Act 2000, the Anti-Terrorism Crime & Security Act 2001, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2005 and the Serious Crime and Police Act 2005. Secondary legislation comprises Money laundering Regulations 2003 and 2007. These increasingly stringent regulations put the onus on businesses to ensure that certain controls are in place to prevent them being used for money laundering purposes including customer due diligence measures and internal controls and monitoring systems.

Under UK law, it is a money laundering offence when a person enters into, or becomes concerned in, an arrangement which facilitates by whatever means the requisition, retention, use or control of criminal property (assets or money) by another person. In many cases, the authorities seek to block suspected money laundering activities at an early stage by applying severe constraints even where there is scant evidence of wrong doing. Actions include forfeiture of assets etc.

Bark & Co frequently has cases under way where our clients are facing both fraud and money laundering charges. In one such recent example the FSA and City of London Police had mounted a combined operation into a large boiler room fraud based overseas. This case has been singled out as a good example of the increasing scale and prevalence of this type of fraud and demonstrates how international operations are being used to bypass the UK financial regulations and authorities to launder money abroad. In another fully contended, cut-throat trial, our client was implicated in a conspiracy to defraud a bank of more than £200M, setting up several offshore accounts to money launder the proceeds of the fraud. In all cases, Bark & Co set out to ensure that our experience and expertise is carefully matched to client requirements, utilising the best legal counsel where necessary to achieve the best outcome.