The millionaire Dubai resident Sanjay Shah, who is accused of a £1.5 billion (Dh6.8bn) Danish tax fraud, has returned to the UK’s High Court in an attempt to gain access to millions more in loan payments to cover his legal costs.
Mr Shah, who is British but lives in Dubai, has seen his funds cut off as he fights a court case against the Danish tax authority, SKAT, which claims he was the key mover behind a £1.5bn tax fraud.
Earlier this year the Danish authorities placed a worldwide freezing order on many of his assets, including a £15m home near London’s Hyde Park, as it seeks to recoup its losses from the scam.
Mr Shah has returned to London’s High Court in a bid to gain access to £13.6m in loan repayments, which his legal team claims is not part of the seizure order, to use to fund his legal battle.
He had sought to ask the people repaying the loan, who are also subjected to the same investigation by SKAT, to pay the money to him.
However, the court heard the other defendants feared that they could face “double jeopardy” if SKAT seized the funds and could leave them liable to paying the sums back twice.
“In broad terms the Sanjay Shah application is intended to ensure that the Sanjay Shah defendants obtain the loan proceeds and can use them to meet their legal expenses, and the Stakeholder application is intended to ensure that the Stakeholder defendants are not at risk in repaying the loans, and later finding themselves faced with a claim that they paid the wrong person or otherwise remain liable for the amount of the loan proceeds,” Mr Justice Foxton said.
The court has ruled the money should be paid directly to the court and has ordered SKAT and Mr Shah’s legal teams to try to come to an arrangement over the funds before a further hearing to be held in July to decide who gets the money.
Mr Justice Foxton said he hoped the July hearing would not be affected by funding issues if there was a problem over the payment of legal fees.
“I would ask the parties to explore whether agreement can be reached for some element of the loan proceeds to be released to the Sanjay Shah defendants within a short period, to avoid that undesirable position,” he added.
Mr Shah’s legal team had tried to argue that it was “too late” for SKAT to seek an injunction on the loan money as it has had “ample opportunity” to do so.
“I do not accept that this argument provides a simple answer to the issue before the court,” Mr Justice Foxton added.
“If SKAT's proprietary claim to the loan proceeds is eventually upheld, then the use of that money by the Sanjay Shah defendants to meet their legal expenses will have involved a civil wrong.”
The Danish tax authority has launched the legal action in the UK as many of the companies allegedly involved were based there.
SKAT claims that Mr Shah was a central player in a scheme in which foreign companies pretended to own shares in Danish companies and then claim tax refunds they were not eligible to receive.
Mr Shah claims that he was exploiting a perfectly legal loophole to make trades that are at the heart of the alleged wrongdoing.
He said his schemes were a “widely known and wholly legitimate trading strategy” but have been stopped by other European governments.
Earlier this year a centre for autistic children in the UAE funded by Mr Shah was closed because of the global asset freeze on his multi-million-pound fortune.
His company Solo Capital Partners, which closed in 2016, was the main funder of the Autism Rocks Support Centre, charity financial records show.
Mr Shah’s wife, Usha – described as founder and chief executive of the centre – is one of the 92 defendants accused of involvement in the tax fraud, according to documents filed in the High Court.
She is said to have been the sole director of a company that saw tens of millions of pounds pass through its accounts from the tax operation.
The UK-based Autism Rocks charity was set up in 2014 and sought to raise money by organising concerts that featured artists including Prince, Joss Stone and Elvis Costello.
The support centre was launched three years later in Dubai and was described as a “boutique centre offering evidence-based therapies that work”.
Mr Shah moved to Dubai in 2009.
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
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