Bank part-owned by Dermot Desmond may face £80m tax evasion fine...

[ian1964 10,563]

...and jail for its president.

 

A bank which Celtic’s biggest shareholder Dermot Desmond partly owns faces an £80 million fine if convicted for its part in an alleged vast tax avoidance scam.

 

French prosecutors have also called for Alexander Pankov the chairman and president of the Rietumu Banka of Riga to get a four year jail sentence.

 

The National Financial Prosecutor (PNF) called for the penalties during what is one of Europe's highest profile financial crime cases known as the France Offshore Affair.

 

 

The penalty if imposed would be enough to wipe out the bank's entire net profit for 2016 leaving the Latvian lender still with £9 million to find.

 

Irish-born tycoon Dermot Desmond holds a near one third stake in Rietumu Banka, having been a shareholder for 12 years and sits on the institution’s ruling council.

 

French judges have begun hearing the prosecution case which alleges that the France Offshore website system helped launder €700 million euros for "simple fraudsters" and avoid some €300 million in tax.

PNF has called for a seven year jail sentence and a fine valued at £8 million to be imposed on the so-called 'king of offshore' and the main accused in the case, Nadav Bensoussan (seen at Riga airport below) who it is alleged organised the "industrial" system tax avoidance and money laundering.

 

The PNF also called for the court to send a "signal" by issuing a warrant for his immediate commital to prison.

Details of the penalties came during his trial which opened last Monday and which is expected to end on March 30.

Fourteen people, two lawyers, one banker, salesmen and clients and two companies include the bank were all due to appear at Le Tribunal Correctionnel De Paris, during the case.

 

Prosecutors Patrice Amar and Ulrika Delaunay-Weiss said said Rietumu was an indispensable link on the floor of the "offshore for all" system between 2008 and 2012, despite warnings from the tax authorities.

France Offshore assured at the time that these practices were perfectly legal.

 

Established in the early 2000s, France Offshore promised, until 2012, that many taxpayers would avoid tax by creating companies in tax havens.

 

For rates ranging from € 2,500 to € 6,000 per year, France Offshore, which had been on-line since 2001, was allegedly responsible for setting up screen companies and financial packages to protect their funds from taxation in France.

 

The court heard that Bensoussan founded a company in real estate before embarking on the alleged large-scale tax avoidance, exploiting the beginnings of the internet and in particular associating himself with the Latvian bank.

"I told myself that it was tolerated," said the 38-year-old self-taught financier almost a month ago, at the beginning of his trial.

 

Last year, when asked on the Latvia’s public broadcaster LSM's De Facto programme if Rietumu willingly collaborated with money laundering rather than doing so inadvertently, Ms Delaunay-Weiss replied: “That’s the position of the investigating judge.”

She added: “That’s why he charged them. He thinks because of different elements that the bank and some of the responsible persons there knew that it was... how can I say ... a system of money laundering.”

The bank, which is also used by owners of Scottish limited partnerships, has previously been fined for breaches of money-laundering legislation.

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15181193.Bank_linked_to_Celtic_backer_risks___80m_tax_evasion_fine___and_jail_for_its_president/

[der Berliner 3,424]

If you check NewsNow Celtic, you can see how much importance such news has for the Scottish mhedia. For it cannot be what cannot be. Obviously, Dermot did not know anything about this and is appaled and dismayed* by his partners in crime .... ahem ... business.

 

*Getting caught, that is.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Its in the herald in scottish media

 

 

[ian1964 10,563]

Its in the herald in scottish media

 

 

Bank linked to Celtic backer risks £80m tax evasion fine - and jail for its president

 

A BANK which Celtic’s biggest shareholder Dermot Desmond partly owns faces an £80 million fine if convicted for its part in an alleged vast tax avoidance scam.

French prosecutors have also called for Alexander Pankov (below), the chairman and president of the Rietumu Banka of Riga to get a four year jail sentence.

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15181193.Bank_linked_to_Celtic_backer_risks___80m_tax_evasion_fine___and_jail_for_its_president/

[RANGERRAB 3,384]

I always wondered if Dave King managed to keep a straight face when taking the SFA's F&PPT. I bet he knew all about Desmond.

 

What King did in SA pales into insignificance when you research Desmond's background, especially his involvement with the ROI governments. Now this too.

Edited March 26, 2017 by RANGERRAB

[MacK1950 2,271]

It's a pity that punishment,if any to shareholders,will only relate to him and not his manky mob.

[der Berliner 3,424]

Its in the herald in scottish media

 

I posted the link to NewsNow on purpose. At that point in time, it was in the Herald, but did you see near that time stamp any other publication giving it a mention? If King utters a wrong sentence, the fall over one another with headlines and articles.

 

Ever since that day ... it only was this:

The Dermott Desmond “Corrupt Bank” Story Is The Latest To Give Sevco Fans Hope. The Celtic Blog 12:28 Sat, 25 Mar

 

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/Football/SPFL/Celtic

 

And you can google for "Dermott Desmond corrupt bank" and get a next to clean blanket from the Scottish media too.

Edited March 26, 2017 by der Berliner

[the gunslinger 3,366]

So they all have to carry this somewhat minor story.

 

 

[der Berliner 3,424]

So they all have to carry this somewhat minor story.

 

It is about swinging pendulums and all. If King was involved in the above, what do you expect to see on NewsNow Rangers?

[craig 5,199]

It is about swinging pendulums and all. If King was involved in the above, what do you expect to see on NewsNow Rangers?

 

The same as we saw for this article ?