Dave King - A Criminal?

[Darthter 542]

It is widely known that Dave King has settled his issues with the SA tax people. There are also many, many reports that he plead guilty to approx 41 charges which resulted in a massive fine.

 

My question is.....did these charges result in a criminal prosecution & resulting in a criminal record, or was it simply King effectively agreeing to paying the outstanding monies on 41 separate counts with the remaining charges/claims being dropped????

 

King has been referred to in many reports as a criminal....how accurate is this description???

[der Berliner 3,239]

Rest assured, no matter what, the Yahoos and their cohorts in the media will have a field day here if he comes to Ibrox in any capacity. Matter of fact, they did all they could when James Easdale joined up, remarking that his brother was convicted too. Now Sandy is a "major" shareholder and his close proximity and past seems to deter the mhedia to have a go at him for the time being.

[Calgacus 8]

Any South African Lawyers among the Gersnet membership?

[Bluedell 5,329]

Tax evasion/avoidance is a very tricky business. Many of the rules are complex and open to interpretation. This was shown with the BTC where there was not a unanimous decision and HMRC disgree with the outcome and are appealing it.

 

There are also situations where you end up paying tax that you believe is not due because it is cheaper or less risky to do so rather than fight it and run up huge porfessional fees or end up losing and get hit with a much higher charge. Paying tax does not always mean that the tax is 100% due. HMRC and presumably SARS act like cowboys at times and are out to maximise their income by whatever means.

 

I also know of someone who ended up paying a 9 figure sum (sic) to another overseas tax authority just to get them off his back.

 

I don't know enough about the specifics of Dave King case but the fact that he paid off SARS doesn't mean much in my book.

[Darthter 542]

I don't know enough about the specifics of Dave King case but the fact that he paid off SARS doesn't mean much in my book.

 

That was pretty much my thinking.....the 2 parties have essentially reached an agreement to finalise the case. IF agreement wasn't reached, criminal charge my well have been raised.

[True_Ger_1872 2]

Has it not been reported that SARS were "satisfied" with the outcome of this? Surely if there was "criminal" activity then they wouldnt have setteld for cash to cover the liabilities - they would want an example made of him.

[calscot 0]

People didn't think tax avoidance or even tax evasion was that bad until Rangers were in the news for it - after all, most people hate paying tax and have either avoided or evaded it themselves at some point or run into some perceived unfairness with the tax man.

 

With the btc, it was manna from heaven for the yahoos even though they don't quite get that there own club and many people connected with it have done similar stuff - and with the likes of Diamond, even more aggressively. (And I think it was weird that Lennon's failed tax avoidance scheme was not more ironically reported.)

 

 

They don't even quite get that they had an EBT too. Just because they paid the tax eventually doesn't excuse them, and the argument is there that Rangers would have paid what was due if HMRC had not been so unethically relentless and the tax case had been decided before Murray was pretty much forced to sell to Whyte.

 

However, it has now become a national obsession to vilify tax avoidance with tv stars and Starbucks etc and so our club and the likes of Dave King will suffer from that.

[Darthter 542]

People didn't think tax avoidance or even tax evasion was that bad until Rangers were in the news for it - after all, most people hate paying tax and have either avoided or evaded it themselves at some point or run into some perceived unfairness with the tax man.

 

With the btc, it was manna from heaven for the yahoos even though they don't quite get that there own club and many people connected with it have done similar stuff - and with the likes of Diamond, even more aggressively. (And I think it was weird that Lennon's failed tax avoidance scheme was not more ironically reported.)

 

 

They don't even quite get that they had an EBT too. Just because they paid the tax eventually doesn't excuse them, and the argument is there that Rangers would have paid what was due if HMRC had not been so unethically relentless and the tax case had been decided before Murray was pretty much forced to sell to Whyte.

 

However, it has now become a national obsession to vilify tax avoidance with tv stars and Starbucks etc and so our club and the likes of Dave King will suffer from that.

 

That's all very well....but has King actually received a criminal conviction for his tax dealings???? The main difference between the BTC and D King is that There were several charges against King of Tax evasion - which is illegal. Tax avoidance is a different kettle of fish. With the BTC even if we were found 100% guilty, there would be no criminal charge to answer.

[calscot 0]

If SARS are happy and he's paid up in full, I would assume he avoided a criminal conviction - intuitively you can't evade tax by paying it. But it seems a very complex subject to me.

 

From the reports it seems it was "pay up or go to jail", and by all accounts he paid up.

[Bluedell 5,329]

"The fraud charges against King were not pursued by the State and King accepted liability in respect of 41 lesser counts of contravening section 75 of the Income Tax Act. "