The Australian Crime Commission is investigating tax schemes, set up by Ross Seller – the top Sydney tax lawyer. Tax Office claims that making premium Scotch whisky was financed by fraudulent tax haven loans.
The Commission has found the evidence that the USD 70 million tax minimisation schemes are connected with a British Virgin Islands finance company. This BVI-registered company is run by Philip Egglishaw, a tax haven guru.
Pat McCarthy is the Sydney accountant who established the whisky schemes with Seller, who did not comment on the situation much.
About 80 businessmen have committed almost USD 1 million in 3 identical premium whisky schemes as the investors purportedly claimed tax deductions up to 400% of their actual outlays. It is alleged that in the 3rd of the 3 schemes, the Virgin Islands company Chambers Finance promised to lend USD 23 million to a Hong Kong entity in 2001.
The Tax Office claims that the cost of making and managing malt Scotch whisky at the Speyside Distillery in Scotland was awfully inflated. Just USD 5 million out of USD 31 million committed to the 3rd scheme was paid to Scotland.
Now, the investors are about to have their deductions disallowed and, possibly, face civil penalties.
McCarthy claims that the loans from Chambers Finance are not fictitious and that he did not know who stood behind the Hong Kong company.