Report this comment to a moderator

39 Essex Street silk charged with VAT fraud

"If HMRC get the tax plus interest plus penalties then why bother to prosecute, he is worth a lot more to them outside jail than in it?" You could say that about almost any dodgy "professional". The idea is that the successful prosecuting of those thought to have broken the law may act as a deterrent to others as well as driving the point home to the law-breaker. I wonder if you would condone the letting off of less genteel law-breakers with a clip around the ear on the grounds that imprisonment is too expensive and it'd be more cost effective to trust them not to do it again...

14-Feb-2013

8:15 am