The London-born financier suspected of masterminding an elaborate scheme to bilk the Danish tax system of $1.9 billion has been arrested by the police in Dubai for potential extradition to Denmark, authorities in Copenhagen stated Friday.
Sanjay Shah, the financier, had been sought by the Danish authorities for what they stated was his position in hundreds of transactions that concerned merchants, attorneys and traders throughout Europe and the USA. Beginning in 2012 and ending three years later, these transactions — which had been so difficult that they baffled even some monetary consultants — led Denmark’s tax company to ship almost $2 billion value of refunds for taxes that had putatively been paid on inventory dividends.
The catch: The traders didn’t personal the shares and weren’t owed refunds.
A lot of these traders, say Danish prosecutors, had been linked to Mr. Shah and the tiny hedge fund he based in London, Solo Capital. Public outrage about Mr. Shah turned him right into a nationwide villain in Denmark, particularly when his life-style in Dubai — which included a ten,000-square-foot villa and a $1.3 million yacht — grew to become identified.
An electronic mail to Mr. Shah’s spokesman searching for remark was not instantly returned.
Mr. Shah has stated he merely took benefit of loopholes within the Danish tax system and by no means broke any legal guidelines. Across the time that Solo Capital was raided by Britain’s Nationwide Crime Company and closed in 2016, Mr. Shah stated he had been unfairly focused as a result of he didn’t have the clout and authorized crew employed by Wall Avenue gamers.
Mr. Shah had appeared past the attain of the Danish courts till March when the federal government signed an extradition settlement with the United Arab Emirates. Whether or not the Emirates will hand over Mr. Shah to the Danes just isn’t but clear. The Danish overseas minister, Jeppe Kofod, wrote on Twitter on Friday that the nation “will push for extradition as quickly as potential.”
“This arrest sends a really robust sign that the Danish authorities are pursuing monetary fraud,” stated Jeppe Bruus Christensen, the minister of taxation, “irrespective of the place on this planet you might be.”
