Former ATT president arrested

THE FORMER president of the Association of Taxation Technicians has been arrested and charged with stealing £5m through a tax fraud targetting the pension industry.

Andrew Meeson (pictured) and three associates, Peter Bradley, Alison Bradley, both of The Forge, Springhill Lane, Wolverhampton and Stephen Price, of Pine Top, Pratts Lane, Studley, were arrested in dawn raids last year. They were charged with conspiracy to cheat the Revenue and appeared before Birmingham Magistrates Court. They were bailed until 9 November.

Simon De Kayne, assistant director of criminal investigation for HM Revenue & Customs, said: "Today, four people have been charged linked to what we believe is a fraud resulting in over £5 million being stolen from public funds. We are committed to bringing such cases to the courts and depriving those involved of the proceeds of their crime."

Meeson resigned from his role as president of the ATT last week in order to fight the charges.

On 8 April 2010, the Pensions Regulator took action to suspend Tudor Capital Mgt from acting as trustees from pension trust schemes at the same time HMRC obtained search warrants for the company.