The Danish authorities have jailed Sanjay Shah for 12 years after managing to extradite the British trader from Dubai in December 2023
Sanjay Shah, 54, joins Guenther Klar, 51, who was charged in 2021, in prison after being sentenced to 12 years on 12 December 2024.
The cum-ex trading schemes involved attempts to evade tax on dividend tax refunds from the Danish Tax Authority on behalf of investors and businesses from around the world.
Shah is the latest in a string of traders to be jailed over the cum-ex fraud.
Last year Anthony Mark Patterson was sentenced to eight years in jail after pleading guilty to working with Shah to carry out the elaborate cum-ex scam.
There was another British man, and three US citizens connected to the cum-ex case, with the group defrauding Dkr12.7bn (£1.4bn) from the Danish tax authority.
However, it has since been discovered that, Shah the founder of Solo Capital, managed to steal DKr9bn (£1bn) from the Danish tax authority through fraudulent dividend tax refund applications over three years (2012-15).
Shah can appeal the decision, and as he has denied all wrongdoing since the beginning of the investigation he is expected to do so. As well as the imprisonment of Shah, the Danish authorities have confiscated DKr7bn (£774m) worth of real estate, along with banning the trader from ever entering the country again and deporting him on the completion of his sentence.
This is the largest sentence handed out by Denmark for a financial crime.
Shah gave evidence at the High Court in London in May over a web link, where he also denied the claims, saying he relied on legal advice from experts and waited to be told if the trades were legal before completing them. There are still civil proceedings ongoing against him in the UK.
Non-residents of Denmark are liable to pay 27% tax on dividend payments made from Danish companies, which the Danish tax authority, Skatteforvaltningen (Skat), claimed Shah did not pay. This tax is held automatically by Skat; however, refunds can be issued in some cases.
Skat argued that all the accused owned no shares in any of the Danish companies, did not receive any dividend payments from owning shares and were therefore not owed any tax refunds from Skat.
Jailed trader claims did not know tax refunds fraudulent | 9 Jul 2024