HMRC calls top tax barrister ‘Mr Bridger’ in Italian Job jibe

Courtroom hears of ‘unprofessional’ HMRC nicknames after top tax barrister is referred to as ‘Mr Bridger’, the flamboyant character from 1969 film The Italian Job

Robert Venables KC, 78, a leading barrister is alleged to have falsified his earnings declarations between 2014 and 2021.

Southwark Crown Court heard that Venables ‘channelled his earnings through a partnership called the RVQC Partnership’.

On the first day of the trial, prosecution barrister, Julian Christopher KC, claimed Venables ‘paid almost £2m less tax than he should have done’.

Following the appearance of Venables’s gardener, ‘lifelong friend’, and bookkeeper, hundreds of pages of communications between Venables and HMRC were revealed to the court, before an HMRC officer was questioned by the defence and prosecution.

HMRC officer cross-examination

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