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Death fall steel boss part of tax fraud probe

The boss of a Black Country steel firm who jumped to his death from the balcony of his penthouse was being investigated for tax fraud, it has emerged.

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Angad Paul jumped to his death from a balcony

Angad Paul, the son of Lord Paul, who founded Caparo Industries in 1968, died a month after hundreds of redundancies were announced at the firm amid the collapse in steel prices.

Lord Paul is Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton.

This week, it emerged Mr Paul, who died aged 45, two years ago, was one of nine people who invested money into a bogus film scheme investigated by HM Revenue & Customs.

It was led by Terence Potter, a former tax partner at Ernst & Young, and involved creating diaries about Formula 1 drivers.

Potter elaborated the investors’ role in the production to enable them to claim tax rebates to which they were not entitled, Southwark Crown Court was told. Potter drafted false diaries for investors to sign, lying to HMRC in order to dishonestly satisfy the criteria enabling them to claw back fraudulent tax rebates.

Potter – who was living in Monaco at the time of the original frauds – admitted conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, while enlisted certified financial planner Neil Williams-Denton was convicted of the charge after a nine-week trial in December 2015.

Founder – Lord Paul

Earlier this year Potter was ordered to pay back £1.8 million in addition to £123,000 in costs. But he escaped further punishment at the court this week after admitting his role in the financing scheme, which attracted Mr Paul and eight others.

Prosecutor Jane Bewsey QC said: “The stated purpose of F1 LLP was to develop documentaries about famous F1 racing drivers. In reality, it was a vehicle for cheating the revenue.”

A crucial aspect of those requirements was that each member was ‘active’ in the partnership, meaning they spent on average 10 hours per week engaged in commercial activities for trading purposes.

Ms Bewsey explained that paper and electronic diaries were compiled to show the nine members had satisfied the requirement.

She said: “These diaries were entirely false and were created under the direction and control of Mr Potter.

“Mr Potter knew from the outset that none of the members would satisfy the requirements and did not task them with any activity, but was prepared to fabricate documents.”

Potter, formerly of Ralli Courts, West Riverside, Manchester, was handed no separate penalty after admitting conspiracy to cheat the Revenue but was banned from being a company director for eight years.

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