A British hedge fund dealer has been sentenced to 12 years in jail in Denmark, after being discovered responsible of orchestrating a tax fraud that price the Danish authorities greater than £1bn.
It’s the heaviest penalty ever given out in Denmark for a fraud case.
Along with the jail time period, financier Sanjay Shah, who was the founding father of London-based hedge fund Solo Capital Companions, obtained a everlasting entry ban to Denmark and may have belongings value $1bn (DKK 7.2bn) seized, in addition to a string of properties.
He instantly appealed the choice on the spot. However will stay in custody.
“We do imagine that there’s a truthful likelihood that the Excessive Court docket would possibly attain a unique conclusion, and clearly we’re additionally hoping for a extra lenient judgment,” his lawyer, Kaare Pihlmann instructed the RAYNAE.
Shah had entered the courtroom sporting a navy hooded sweatshirt and a crimson Santa Claus hat.
Seated between his legal professionals, the 54-year-old Briton was calm and straight-faced as a choose learn out the decision.
Nanna Blach instructed the courtroom that Shah had performed a “fully central and controlling position” in a scheme that had led to “unjust” funds, including that the crime had been “meticulously deliberate and organised”.
The sentence got here after a high-profile trial that had lasted a number of months.
Prosecutors had accused Shah of being the mastermind of a so-called cum-ex scheme, utilizing a sequence of advanced trades with a view to fraudulently reclaim greater than £1bn (DKK 9bn) in dividend tax refunds from the Danish treasury between 2012 and 2015.
Shah had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, arguing that he had used a authorized loophole. His defence attorneys had tried a number of occasions to get the case dismissed.
Danish prosecutor Marie Tullin instructed the RAYNAE that the utmost sentence given to Shah mirrored, “the terribly huge quantity, the time it had gone on, and his position in it managing all of it, over a number of years committing this fraud in opposition to the Danish state.”
“It’s by far the most important [fraud] when it comes to quantity,” she added. “I feel additionally the sentence speaks for itself, in that it’s a crime have not seen on this magnitude earlier than.”
Earlier than his arrest, Shah had been residing in Dubai, the place he was reportedly identified for throwing lavish events and had hosted concert events for his autism charity, with performances by main celebrities.
He was arrested in 2022 and extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Denmark in December final 12 months.
In accordance with Reuters, so-called cum-ex buying and selling schemes have flourished because the 2008 monetary disaster, with Germany, Belgium, and Denmark among the many European international locations most affected.
The schemes usually contain the speedy sale of huge volumes of shares from one investor to a different instantly earlier than the fee of a dividend, enabling duplicated claims of the withholding tax.
Beforehand the Danish authorities has stated cum-ex schemes have price it greater than $1.8bn (12.7bn DKK). Shah was one among 9 British and US nationals accused of defrauding the state.
Shah additionally faces a parallel civil tax fraud case in London, filed by the Danish tax authority, that is because of conclude in April.
As he exited the courtroom escorted by cops, sporting his Santa Claus hat as soon as extra, Shah shot a smile in direction of reporters, and stated, “See you subsequent 12 months.”
