39 Essex Street silk Rohan Pershad QC has been charged with a £600,000 VAT fraud.
Rohan Pershad
Pershad is charged with deliberately failing to declare VAT payments to HM Revenue and Customs on services he billed for between 1 June 1999 and 24 September 2011, the CPS said in a statement today. He is charged with a single offence covering the 12-year period.
The CPS said Pershad was working as a barrister at the time and is charged with “knowingly” not paying a total of £600,000 in tax.
The barrister has instructed Kinsgley Napley partner Angus McBride to represent him.
Pershad, a clinical negligence barrister, took silk in 2011 (14 March 2011). He was junior to 39 Essex Street’s Edwin Glasgow QC in his representation of oil company Trafigura in a dispute over the dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast (12 May 2010).
Pershad was 39 Essex Street’s 39th tenant, having trained at 2 Crown Office Row (26 July 1999).
The charge an indictable offence and will have to go to the Crown Court.
Keri Ashworth-Beaumont, prosecutor for the CPS central fraud division said today: “I have advised HM Revenue and Customs that Rohan Pershad QC should be prosecuted for a single office of cheating the public revenue.
“The evidence suggests that he charged and received VAT payments on services he provided whilst practising as a barrister but which he knowingly failed to declare or pay to HMRC. This is an offence contrary to common law.
“This decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. After careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.”
Pershad will appear before Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on 2 August.
Kingsley Napley this afternoon (26 July) issued a statement on behalf of Pershad responding to the allegations. It read: “The CPS has announced today that it has issued a summons in relation to an allegation stemming from my personal tax affairs. The CPS has issued this summons while I am still providing HMRC and the CPS with further information and representations setting out why I am not guilty of any offence.
“I am extremely disappointed that the CPS has seen fit to issue a press release whilst discussions are on-going.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I deny any dishonest activity in relation to my tax affairs and if a decision is made to pursue this matter in court, I will defend myself vigorously.”
The set declined to comment.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Sussex, University of - The Independent
Age: 50
History: The first of the universities created in the 60s.
Address: Set on the edge of the South Downs National Park, four miles from the centre of Brighton & Hove
Ambience: Laid-back, modern; 200 acres of rolling green land. Campus a little isolated but self-sufficient. Sublime countryside nearby for ramblers or Brighton clubs for socialising. Once famous for student protest, students still maintain more of a reputation for radicalism than many.
Vital statistics: Over 10,000 students, with just under 8,000 full-time undergraduates, grouped into twelve schools of study, including one of the largest psychology departments in the country.
Added value: Now has a medical school, a joint venture with Brighton University. Lots of opportunities to study abroad. Formidable research reputation, having numbered three Nobel Prize winners, 13 Fellows of the Royal Society, and 6 Fellows of the British Academy among their staff.
Easy to get into? Competitive. Offers are made in A-level grades instead of UCAS points, with most courses asking for between AAA and BBC.
Glittering alumni: A long list, including the writer Ian McEwan, former president of South Africa Thabo Mbeki, Jeremy Deller, Turner Prize winner 2004, and, most impressively of all, platinum blond 80s pop heart-throb Billy Idol.
Transport links: Local trains and buses to Brighton take minutes. Trains to London take 50 minutes. Gatwick airport 30 minutes by train.
Who's the boss? Professor Michael Farthing, a medic and enthusiastic photographer who is also president of the British Society of Gastroenterology.
Teaching: 10th out of 116 for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide.
Research: 28th out of 115 in the Research Assessment Exercise.
Overall ranking: 19th out of 116 in the Complete University Guide.
Nightlife: Bopping in students' union building, Falmer House. Or go to Brighton's numerous clubs, trendy pubs and veggie cafés.
How green is it? Not great – came joint 89th out of 142 universities graded by People and Planet for its ‘Green League 2011’.
Any accommodation? Yes, and it's guaranteed to all undergrads who make Sussex their firm choice and apply for housing by 1 August, 2011. It's around £81 to £125 per week for a self-catering university room.
Cheap to live there? Not very. You'll pay around £85 per week for a rented room in the private sector.
Sports ranking: Joint 43rd in the BUCS league table.
Fees: £3,375 for full-time home udnergrads starting in 2011. Sussex plans on charging £9,000 per year as of 2012.
Bursaries: In 2011, a Sussex Bursary of £1,000 per year is available to all students whose assessed family income is £25,000 or less, and the Chancellor's Scholarship offers £1,000 per year to students with a family income of £30,000 or less.In 2012, Sussex will offer scholarships to students who are the first in their family to go into higher education, as well as to those from low-income families.
Prospectus: 01273 876 787; www.sussex.ac.uk
UCAS code: S90
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Sisala off the hook - Times of Zambia
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Eunice had told the court that on the material day around 22:00 hours, she received six female visitors who went to collect a wedding dress from their matrimonial home but Mr Sisala chased them because it was late. But Eunice got angered by her ...Source: www.times.co.zm
Charlie and TOWIE pals plan 80s party for Joey Essex - The Sun
CHARLIE King has gone back to the 80s for a fancy dress party to celebrate his pal Joey Essex's birthday.
The star, who was seen chatting up Lauren Goodger, 25, on ITV2's TOWIE last night, donned a black buckled outfit, topped off with a black wig and sunglasses.
Joey's 22nd birthday is in August but the Essex gang were filming scenes for an upcoming episode of the show.
Also in costume was Jess Wright's boyfriend Ricky Rayment. He modelled a pink shellsuit, an oversized dollar sign necklace and carried a blonde wig in his hands.
And getting into the spirit of the day was Lauren Pope, who sported pink ripped leggings, a white leotard, a skinny rose-coloured belt and ruched peep-toe boots.
Lauren P, 30, was recently seen telling Tom Pearce, 22, that they would never be a couple as she felt their age gap was too severe.
Chloe Sims looked retro in a frizzy blonde wig, a pink bow in her hair and a lace vest which amplified her bust.
She also wore heavy eyeshadow on her peepers and long false eyelashes.
Lauren Goodger, who was seen on last night's edition of the living reality show being chatted up by Charlie AND Tom Pearce, looked happy wearing a dress with chiffon overskirt which accentuated her figure.
She accessorised the dress with patent peeptoe heels.
The former fiancée of Mark Wright was seen spurning Charlie's advances and smooching Tom P last night.
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Muslim leader loses Sharia law fight over divorce settlement - Lancashire Telegraph
Muslim leader loses Sharia law fight over divorce settlement
9:00am Thursday 26th July 2012 in News
A MUSLIM leader who ignored a divorce judge’s order to pay his ex-wife £60,000 maintenance has been told by the Appeal Court that he cannot rely on Muslim tradition to absolve him of his financial responsibilities.
In a test case clash of Muslim and UK matrimonial law, Lord Justice Ward ruled that a belief that maintenance payments to spouses are ‘illegitimate or illegal according to Islamic culture’ is no defence to orders made in English divorce courts. Dr Zaid Al-Saffar, a consultant rheumatologist at Scarborough Hospital and the head of the town’s Islamic society, married academic Hanan Al-Saffar in April 2000. They had two children before splitting in 2008.
The couple’s row over finances came before District Judge Alan Jones at the County Court, Blackburn, where Mrs Al-Saffar, who is in her 30s, now lives, in May 2008.
In traditional Muslim societies there is often no expectation that ex-husbands pay maintenance to ex-wives. Judge Jones however refused to accept this view and ordered Dr Al-Saffar to pay £60,000 in maintenance for her contribution to the marriage.
The doctor only made four payments however, leading to his wife obtaining an order from District Judge Alan Booth in February, directing him to pay the arrears of over £40,000 in a lump sum and resume monthly payments.
Dr Al-Saffar challenged that at London’s Appeal Court, telling Lord Justice Ward he stopped paying four months after the County Court order when he had heard his wife had inherited £250,000 from her father.
But Lord Justice Ward dismissed his appeal, upholding judge Booth’s finding that the doctor was ‘determined not to pay’ as he ‘felt the payments illegitimate or illegal’ under Islamic culture.
Representing himself, the doctor told the court: “I’m hard working. I pay my taxes and look after my community. I have nothing but respect for the court’s order, but I only stopped paying because all her family were telling me she’s got millions. She doesn't need it.”
Source: www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk
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