Former BHS owner in court over tax evasion allegations

Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell is to appear in court today (18 June) on accusations of tax evasion in relation to a finance company at which he was the director.

Chappell is due to appear at the City of London Magistrates Court, facing three charges of cheating the public revenue and two counts of money laundering relating to his bankrupt finance company Swiss Rock Limited.

The charges allege he failed to register Swiss Rock for VAT from the correct date, provided false or misleading information to HMRC and failed to correct the taxman’s assessment of how much tax was due.

The money laundering charges relate to two yachts, which were purchased with company funds, the Maverick 5 and 6 were purchased for £182,500 and £230,000 respectively five months apart from each other, in April and September 2015.

Chappell was the final owner of retail company BHS, purchasing the company from Arcadia owner Philip Green for £1.