07/05/20

CAYMAN ISLANDS: Firms asked for info in Danish tax fraud.

As published on caymannewsservice.com, Wednesday 6 May, 2020.

(CNS): More than a dozen offshore corporate service providers from the Cayman Islands have been asked to provide information for a case going through the New York Southern District Court relating to an alleged $2 billion tax scam in Denmark. The tax authority there, Skatteforvaltningen (SKAT), is seeking discovery from firms here and in the British Virgin Islands in its pursuit of dozens of US pension plans it says have made and received fraudulent tax rebates from the Danish public purse

SKAT alleges they were not entitled to the tax refunds because the plans did not actually own the shares of the Danish Securities that they claimed to and didn’t earn the dividends. According to the court documents, the Danish authorities claim the scam was set up by Dubai-based British businessman Sanjay Shah.

While the suit involves dozens of US pension plans, the local firms here are not involved in the suit. But SKAT believes they were used to distribute the Danish tax refunds to the participants in the fraud to disguise the true beneficiaries.

Some of Cayman’s biggest names are now asked to provide documentary evidence of the work they did for the pension companies named in the suit.

They include Bell Rock Corporate Services, Campbells Corporate Services Limited, CO Services Cayman Limited, DMS Corporate Services, Forbes Hare Trust Company Limited, Genesis Trust Corporate Services Ltd, Harneys Services (Cayman) Ltd, Intertrust Corporate Services (C.I.) Limited, Ocorian (Cayman) Limited, Sterling Trust (Cayman) Limited, Trident Trust Company (Cayman) Limited, Vistra (Cayman) Limited and Walkers Corporate Limited.