Jailed accountant who defrauded NHS ordered to pay back nearly £240k – Crown Prosecution Service

‘An accountant who was jailed for defrauding the NHS, companies and individuals, has been ordered to pay back nearly £240,000 and faces an additional 20 months in prison if he fails to pay.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 17th January 2023

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Bermuda theft: Accountant faces losing pension for £1.7m theft – BBC News

Posted November 28th, 2022 in accountants, Bermuda, fraud, news, pensions, proceeds of crime, theft by tracey

‘An accountant who stole £1.7m from the Bermudan government is facing losing his pension as attempts to claw back money he took continue.’

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BBC News, 26th November 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Accountant jailed for exploiting a disabled victim for over £300,000 – Crown Prosecution Service

‘A chartered accountant has been jailed for exploiting a vulnerable victim out of money and assets worth £331,858.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 12th May 2022

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Court of Appeal rules equity partner’s demotion was not conduct extending over a period but a one-off act with continuing consequences – Farrar’s Building

‘Claimants wishing to bring a discrimination claim under the Equality Act 2010 must do so within 3 months of the discriminatory conduct. Claimants can bring their claim in respect of conduct extending beyond 3 months if the conduct was a sequence of events and the last chain in the event occurred within 3 months of the claim. But when is conduct extending over a period and when is the conduct simply a one-off act with continuing consequences? In Parr v MSR Partners LLP (Formerly Moore Stephens LLP) and Others [2022] EWCA Civ 24, the Court of Appeal held that an equity partner’s demotion to salaried partner was not a continuing act even if he suffered losses many years after the demotion. The demotion was the point at which limitation ran.’

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Farrar's Building, 19th January 2022

Source: www.farrarsbuilding.co.uk

Patisserie Valerie auditors fined £2.3m over ‘serious lack of competence’ – The Guardian

Posted September 27th, 2021 in accountants, auditors, fines, insolvency, news by sally

‘The auditor of Patisserie Valerie has been fined £2.3m and accused of a “serious lack of competence” over its role in the accounting scandal that led to the collapse of the cafe chain.’

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The Guardian, 27th September 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

Case Comment: Tinkler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 39 – UKSC Blog

Posted August 26th, 2021 in accountants, agency, estoppel, news, notification, service, taxation by sally

‘In this post, Tim Sales, a partner in the Dispute Resolution team at CMS, and Hannah Jones, who works in the Tax team at CMS, comment on the decision handed down by the UK Supreme Court in the matter of Tinkler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 39, which concerned whether estoppel by convention applied to prevent the taxpayer disputing that HMRC had validly served a notice of enquiry.’

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UKSC Blog, 25th August 2021

Source: ukscblog.com

New Judgment: Tinkler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 39 – UKSC Blog

Posted August 3rd, 2021 in accountants, agency, estoppel, news, service, Supreme Court, taxation by sally

‘The Supreme Court has unanimously allowed this appeal addressing whether a taxpayer is prevented from challenging the validity of an enquiry into their tax return by HMRC where both parties have proceeded, for nearly a decade, on the mistaken assumption that the enquiry was validly initiated by a letter sent to the taxpayer.’

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UKSC Blog, 30th July 2021

Source: ukscblog.com

Accountant given 11 years’ imprisonment for £1.3 million fraud – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted April 21st, 2021 in accountants, Crown Prosecution Service, fraud, imprisonment, news, sentencing, theft by tracey

‘An accountant who defrauded the NHS, companies, and individuals out of more than £1.3 million has been jailed recently (15 April 2021) for multiple counts of fraud and theft.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 19th April 2021

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Tribunal: Law firm’s part-time FD was worker, not self-employed – Legal Futures

‘An accountant who acted as a law firm’s part-time finance director through a company was a worker and not self-employed, even though he had another client, an employment tribunal has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 29th March 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

UK accounting firms criticised by watchdog for ‘unacceptable’ work – The Guardian

Posted July 15th, 2020 in accountants, auditors, news, ombudsmen, standards by tracey

‘The accounting watchdog has hit out at the UK’s largest auditors, after its annual inspection uncovered an “unacceptable” number of poorly executed company audits.’

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The Guardian, 14th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Matalan founder suing PwC for ‘ineffective tax avoidance advice’ – The Guardian

Posted May 21st, 2020 in accountants, capital gains tax, income tax, negligence, news, tax avoidance by sally

‘The multimillionaire founder of Matalan is suing his accountants for allegedly giving him ineffective tax avoidance advice – weeks after his retail empire received tens of millions of pounds of taxpayer support during the Covid-19 pandemic.’

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The Guardian, 20th May 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Accountant severely reprimanded over SRA report – Legal Futures

‘An accountant found to have “improperly” issued a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) about a law firm has been severely reprimanded by his regulator.’An accountant found to have “improperly” issued a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) about a law firm has been severely reprimanded by his regulator.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd April 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Tribunal lifts practising controls from ABS accountant – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has lifted practising restrictions on a finance director who was sanctioned less than three years ago, over the objections of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).’

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Legal Futures, 11th November 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Expert “failed to provide objective opinion”, says High Court – Litigation Futures

Posted August 27th, 2019 in accountants, bias, evidence, expert witnesses, news by sally

‘An expert witness who said in oral evidence that he saw his role as presenting his side’s case “in the most favourable light” has been criticised by the High Court.’

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Litigation Futures, 27th August 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Expert Evidence on Share Valuations: When to use hot tubbing in unfair prejudice petitions – 4 New Square

‘A critical part of any unfair prejudice petition is the valuation of the minority shareholding. Paul Mitchell QC and Nigel Burroughs of 4 New Square were counsel on different sides in Swain v Swains Plc, a case in which the expert share valuation evidence was taken concurrently. They look at the pros and cons of hot tubbing, and offer practical advice on how to approach the way experts should give their evidence.’

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4 New Square, 22nd July 2019

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Accountancy body wins right to regulate oaths – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Chartered accountancy regulator the ICAEW has received a crumb of comfort from the lord chancellor in its long-running campaign to become a regulator of reserved legal activities. David Gauke revealed today that he has decided to grant an application for the ICAEW to become an approved regulator and licensing authority in relation to the administration of oaths.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 22nd May 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Accountancy watchdog criticised over legal services procurement – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted December 19th, 2018 in accountants, auditors, competition, legal services, news, ombudsmen, public procurement by sally

‘The accountancy regulator should adopt a more open procurement policy when tendering for legal and professional services, a review assessing its clout has found.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 18th December 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

New ABS combines legal and accountancy advice – Legal Futures

Posted December 10th, 2018 in accountants, alternative business structures, legal services, news by sally

‘A litigation-focused legal and accountancy alternative business structure (ABS), which opened for business earlier this month, is set to benefit from an “explosion” in contested probate cases.’

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Legal Futures, 10th December 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Watchdog berates PwC over ‘misleading’ BHS accounts – The Guardian

Posted August 16th, 2018 in accountants, auditors, financial regulation, news, reports by sally

‘BHS’s accounts were misleading and featured unrealistic forecasts before Sir Philip Green sold the now collapsed department store chain, according to a report into the role of the retailer’s auditor, PwC.’

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The Guardian, 15th August 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Call to investigate barriers to ABSs moving into other professional services – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) should investigate whether there are regulatory barriers to law firms that become alternative business structures (ABSs) providing other professional services such as accountancy and surveying, rather than vice versa, a report it commissioned has recommended.’

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Legal Futures, 10th May 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk