HMRC failed to prosecute tycoon over tax evasion
HMRC has failed to prosecute a wealthy tycoon who did not pay tax for 24 years as Richard Bilton reports
Tax inspectors failed to prosecute a wealthy tax cheat who did not submit returns or pay any tax for 24 years, documents seen by BBC Panorama show.
HM Revenue and Customs had concluded that Paul Bloomfield, a property investor involved in the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium, was a UK resident and liable for 20 years’ tax.
Mr Bloomfield was on a list of HSBC clients with secret Swiss accounts.
HMRC said it would not comment on an individual taxpayer.
‘Money box’
Mr Bloomfield enjoyed luxury homes, a boat, helicopter and private jet. His personal fortune was estimated at £60m in 2006 but when the taxman finally caught up with him five years later Mr Bloomfield was not prosecuted.
His is the most extreme case of tax evasion to emerge following the HSBC scandal and is likely to lead to further questions about HMRC’s treatment of wealthy tax cheats.
The latest Panorama revelations came from the minutes of two meetings between Mr Bloomfield and HMRC investigators in 2011.
Mr Bloomfield told HMRC that, despite his lavish lifestyle, he did not own any property or have any income.
The notes of the meeting say: “Bloomfield advised that he has never paid a bill and never received a bill and when he needed money it was sent to him.”
“When pressed, Bloomfield confirmed that his living expenses are paid from wherever there is money. In his words there is a box somewhere which contains money and he arranges for the bills to be paid.”
Mr Bloomfield claimed an offshore company paid his rent and that another company paid for “the use of a Boeing 757, the use of a boat and a helicopter”.
Some of the cash came from a Gibraltarian law firm, Marrache and Co, which closed in 2010 after the three brothers who ran the firm were arrested. Benjamin, Isaac and Solomon Marrache were jailed for fraud last year.
