Two arrested as global bank probe gathers pace

Two men have been arrested as part of a multi-million-pound tax fraud investigation involving UK customers of a collapsed Puerto Rican bank.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers executed search warrants at three residential and business addresses in Liverpool and arrested two men, aged 40 and 50.

Computers and other digital devices were seized during the raids along with business records. High value assets were also seized, including jewellery, prestige watches, and designer clothing and handbags.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering as part of an investigation that is linked to the collapsed Puerto Rican-based Euro Pacific Bank (EPB).

The Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) suspended the operations of the bank in June 2022, and it has since entered a liquidation process. The bank had been at the centre of a global probe by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5).

HMRC, which is a founding member of the J5, announced in July 2022 that it was using its full range of civil and criminal powers to investigate the tax affairs of hundreds of UK customers linked to EPB. This was followed in September with HMRC writing to around 600 people in the UK who used the bank to urge them to check their tax position and make any necessary corrections.

Zoe Gascoyne, Deputy Director, HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said:

“When we launched this probe, we were clear that customers of this bank should come to us before we came to them. These arrests prove we’re true to our word.

“HMRC and J5 are making the world a smaller place for those we suspect of cheating the system. Our investigations are gathering pace so now’s the time to come clean before it’s too late.”

Anyone who is not sure they paid the right amount of tax, must come forward and tell HMRC as soon as possible.

To make a disclosure, they should use the Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF) here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/worldwide-disclosure-facility-make-a-disclosure

Anyone who has committed fraud and wants to tell us, can use the Contractual Disclosure Facility.

Both men have been released under investigation.

Notes to Editors

1. Two men from Liverpool, aged 40 and 50, were arrested on suspicion of cheating the public revenue, VAT fraud, income tax fraud, fraud by false representation, and money laundering offences.
2. HMRC is also writing to hundreds of EPB customers, asking them to check their tax affairs.
3. HMRC is a founding member of the J5, which includes tax authorities from Australia, US, Canada and the Netherlands. The operational alliance is dedicated to tackling transnational tax crime and money laundering.
   
4. HMRC took part in a Global Day of Action with fellow Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) in 2020. The day of action focussed on clients of the bank across the world.
   
5. Find out more about HMRC's approach to tax fraud at GOV.uk.
6. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on Twitter @HMRCpressoffice.