British and Dutch authorities have seized more than €6m (£5.1m) worth of assets – including luxury cars, a speedboat and properties – from an Anglo-Dutch couple accused of running a multinational tax avoidance scheme.



Dozens of officers raided the couple’s homes in Macclesfield, the Netherlands and Austria in a complex international tax fraud investigation. A 46-year-old woman from Macclesfield was arrested during the raid, and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 51-year-old Dutch man in connection with allegations of money laundering and multimillion-pound tax avoidance.

The authorities seized a Bentley, a Jaguar and a BMW, as well as a speedboat, cash, computers and two villas in the Netherlands.

Paul Maybury, assistant director of fraud investigations at HM Revenue & Customs, said: “We are working closely with our partners in the Netherlands and Austria to tackle suspected tax evasion.

“The vast majority of taxpayers pay the tax they owe, but where we suspect people aren’t paying what’s due, we will use our full range of powers to ensure that nobody is beyond our reach. People cannot hide money offshore thanks to this international cooperation.

“Businesses that commit tax fraud are not just stealing from the public purse, but also have an unfair advantage over honest businesses who pay the right taxes.”

Dutch prosecutors said the raids, which involved 28 British officers, were launched after the couple withdrew more than €300,000 (£256,000) in cash using credit cards linked to offshore accounts. The Dutch authorities said they suspected the couple, who own a marketing company in Manchester, committed tax fraud via a complex web of companies and offshore bank accounts in several countries.

The arrests were part of a fresh Dutch-led crackdown on offshore tax evasion after the leak of thousands of “black” accounts held at Swiss bank Credit Suisse. Last week, authorities seized millions of euros in cash, gold, jewellery, real estate and paintings across the Netherlands and France, from holders of some of the 55,000 suspect accounts.



The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) said the couple’s suspect transactions were captured by a project that automatically flags up debit and credit cards that are linked to foreign assets, and checks whether taxpayers have declared the assets.

“Their assumed illegally obtained profits have been laundered in the Netherlands, where the suspects own two houses, where they stay on a regular basis,” the FIOD said in a statement.

The Dutch authorities last week revealed they had been given details of more than 55,000 suspect Credit Suisse accounts by a whistleblower. Dozens of Dutch taxpayers are under investigation, and coordinated raids have been carried out across Europe and Australia.

High-ranking bank employees in Britain, Germany and Australia are under investigation. Dutch prosecutors said they acted after receiving a tip-off on assets hidden within “offshore accounts and policies”. Credit Suisse offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam have been searched by local authorities.

The action has prompted fresh calls for an end to Swiss banking secrecy. If proven, evasion on this scale would amount to a “global criminal enterprise”, said Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network.

HMRC said it had launched a criminal investigation into suspected tax evasion and money laundering by a global financial institution and its employees. Warning of “further, targeted, activity over the coming weeks”, HMRC said its efforts were focused on the bank’s staff and “a number of its customers”.