Woman arrested in suspected cross border £3.8m offshore tax fraud

Yesterday, 28 officers from HMRC searched one residential and one business addresses yesterday in Manchester and Macclesfield, while properties in the Netherlands and Austria were also raided.

Cash, computers, business and personal records were seized in the UK and in the Netherlands assets including property, luxury vehicles, a yacht (pictured left) and several bank accounts were seized.

One woman, 46, from Macclesfield, Cheshire was arrested as part of the investigation.

Paul Maybury, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “We are working closely with our partners in the Netherlands and Austria to tackle suspected tax evasion. The vast majority of taxpayers pay the tax they owe, but where we suspect people aren’t paying what’s due, we will use our full range of powers to ensure that nobody is beyond our reach. People cannot hide money offshore thanks to this international co-operation.

“Businesses that commit tax fraud are not just stealing from the public purse, but also have an unfair advantage over honest businesses who pay the right taxes,” he warned.

Two addresses were searched in the UK as simultaneous searches took place at two residential properties in the Netherlands and one residential address in Austria. Those arrested have been interviewed and released pending further enquiries, HMRC added.