Two jailed for £60m HIV cure tax fraud

The director and finance director of a company set up to market a fraudulent tax avoidance scheme which attempted to raise more than £60m through claiming to invest in HIV research and conservation, have been jailed for a total of 14 and a half years, HMRC has revealed.

Antony Blakey, director of Ethical Trading and Marketing Ltd, and finance director, John Banyard, enticed wealthy people to invest in the scheme with the promise of avoiding tax by supporting tree planting in the Amazon and research into a HIV cure.