24 June 2009
11 people have been arrested in a suspected £2.5m tax relief
fraud involving bogus pension schemes. As part of an HM Revenue
& Customs (HMRC) investigation, in conjunction with the
Pensions Regulator and the Financial Services Authority, raids were
carried out across the North West and Midlands.
Mike O'Grady, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigations at
HMRC's North West division, said: "This is an unusual investigation
into what we believe to be an organised attack on tax relief
available on self-invested pension schemes. We don't expect to know
the full scale of this suspected fraud until we have assessed all
the evidence collected."
