A senior barrister was convicted today after he “disappeared off the VAT radar” for 12 years in a “preposterous” ploy to avoid paying tax.
Fraud expert Rohan Pershad QC pocketed £600,000, which he collected from clients but failed to pass on, and used it to buy two houses worth more than £1.5 million.
The “financially astute” lawyer from Hammersmith was found guilty of cheating the public revenue by a majority verdict at Blackfriars crown court. He was released on bail and will be sentenced on February 26.
The jurors heard that most barristers were self-employed and were legally required to pay their own VAT. But Pershad stopped doing so in 1999, shortly before he moved to the Thirty Nine Essex Street chambers.
He then fell off the tax register, meaning he “disappeared off the VAT radar” and was classed as a “missing trader”. But he carried on working.
Pershad denied the charge against him, claiming he believed his chambers paid his VAT. But this defence, branded “preposterous” by the prosecution, was rejected by the jury.
