Unlock the Digest of the editor for free
A former British tax adviser at broker dealer BGC Group who is accused of participating in a £ 24 million to cheat the American company stands for a prison sentence after he had admitted that he had violated a freezing order for his assets.
A judge in London said that the “guardianship threshold was crossed” for contempt from the court after Michael Viney had driven out funds that should have been used to repay the American company.
“I am afraid that I cannot give you guarantees” about the punishment that would be imposed, Mr Justice Dexter Dies told High Court at High Court on Monday. The judge said he would hand out his ruling at a later time.
BGC, which was led by billionaire Howard Lutnick before he became the American trade secretary this year, said it was the victim of a “massive” £ 24 million fraud committed by Viney and another British employee, Xavier Alcan.
The company accused Viney and Alcan of distracting payments intended between BGC and other legitimate sources, mainly HMRC, to bank accounts in many areas of law. The company reached a settlement with Alcan last year.
BGC accused Viney of using a “trusted position” within the company to hide 32 separate fraudulent payments, also by e -mails to doctors.
Viney previously admitted that he could pay BGC. He was told to repay around £ 24 million under the conditions of a judicial order in May 2022, according to a legal submission of BGC. On Monday he acknowledged that he had broken the order.
The suspect told the court that he had admitted three infringements, including the sale of a property in Barcelona and alternate part of the proceeds.
BGC’s lawyer, Bobby Friedman, said that Viney’s behavior was “just too serious” to justify a conditional punishment, who would “send a message” too weak “about the seriousness of the infringements. “There has been a consistent pattern of avoiding judicial orders,” said Friedman.
Friedman told the court that Viney had participated in a scheme to expel ‘consciously’ assets with a ‘high degree of planning’.
The proceeds from the fixed sale of € 253,800 Barcelona was paid on previously unknown bank accounts and although some of the money had been recovered, there had not been a large piece, Friedman said.
Ian Whitehurst, who represents Viney, said there was no dispute about the facts of the case, but he called on the judge to consider a conditional punishment.
Whitehurst said that Viney had collaborated with “large aspects” of the judicial order and that around £ 11 million or £ 12 million would eventually be realized from him.
He said that Viney, who looked a large part of the hearing on Monday, had been under “significant stress and tension” that had influenced his judgment and led him to “actions of rank stupidity and naivety”.
Whitehurst called on the judge to consider the impact of the punishment on his family, and added that Viney had previously been of good character.