Firm linked to Michelle Mone's husband should face 'fraud probe' say experts | BBC News

The husband of ex-Tory peer Michelle Mone, Doug Barrowman, is connected to a company that tax experts say should be investigated for fraud, BBC Newsnight has found.
Doug Barrowman has previously denied involvement in Vanquish Options, a firm that falsely claimed customers could write off money owed to the government.
But BBC News has identified Vanquish bosses with links to Mr Barrowman and seen emails sent by Vanquish from the same IP address as his Isle of Man HQ.
Mr Barrowman has denied any wrongdoing.
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[@cariad4297]

I have very limited sympathy for the high earners who try to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, but Mone's and her husband should already be in jail.

[@ebrahimkarolia4812]

Those who are in position to put them in jail are the same people who gave him contract. In other words, they all piss in same pot.

[@willieckaslike]

I have even less for "high earners". But worse than them are the professional accountants who work out the bare minimum they can "get away with paying" ! Tax "avoidance" should be made just as illegal as tax evasion. END OF !

[@conorbarry1928]

Completely agree

[@bereal6590]

Britain has 650-850billion in offshore tax avoidance havens and the Tories don't chase it. Yet they chase some poor person who got an extra £10 on u.c.

[@davecrow2504]

Not a chance

[@dub604]

So it's not a good idea to try and wriggle out of paying tax by using sketchy schemes? Whoever would have thought?

[@helenaville5939]

Yes, it's hard to feel sympathy for tax dodgers.

[@bereal6590]

@@helenaville5939 true and here they bang on about suicides. What about the suicides of those who are disabled going through the DWP process, that gets zero coverage. Those people weren't avoiding, they were trying to stay alive😞

[@PhillipHartley-tl1hi]

Jimmy Carr.

[@mariGentle]

They prosecute the poor fast enough if they over claim benefits

[@JohnDoe-tx8lq]

"you hve to spend it on something" while making 30% profit on selling defective protection to nurses!! As if he has no choice but buy stuff for the hell of of it. Unbelievable. Total scum.

[@tomhermens7698]

@JohnDoe-tx8lq was more like 80% rather than 30% Total Disgrace and must , must be investigated. I don't care where she sits but she has blood on her hands.

[@nyali2]

The yacht documentary is at least 10 years old..

[@JohnDoe-tx8lq]

@@nyali2 oh well done, 10/10 ! ....and? what's your point? You think think he's now changed and dedicates his life to helping others? 😆He wouldn't have made those public comments AFTER being caught ripping us off!

[@nyali2]

@@JohnDoe-tx8lq do you dedicate your life to help the public? If not why would you expect anyone else to do so?

[@JohnDoe-tx8lq]

well I actually do work in a hospital - FOR MONEY!!! shock horror!! -, but what has that got to do with ripping of the public with scams? 🤣 D o n u t.

[@matthewcook9404]

I want to see a Labour Party manifesto commitment to set up a new department of the NCA specifically to investigate , prosecute and recover the proceeds of the fraud and corruption involved in PPE / VIP fast lane contracts during the pandemic. This is our money, and we want it back.

[@deb1587]

Don't hold your breath...Labour and Tories in hands of exactly same puppeteers ...so called elite AKA....WHO, WEF, UN, etc. There is talk that riyals are puppets in same same hands too 🙄

[@thomassummerhill6357]

And the furlough payments. They were giving money away without proper checks there were even tuition online how to fill in the forms ! Billions disappeared.

[@terrygrady8413]

Fat chance of that, they also have their tax evaders that use the system that has been set up purposefully to evade tax. Its been there for decades.

[@bereal6590]

@@terrygrady8413 that is incorrect

[@carolinemulenga2697]

Well said and spot on. There is absolutely no reason why this can't and should be done.

[@utubebroadcaster]

So crime does pay 😅

[@mimikhan9546]

Lol.

[@jakobthelibrarycard6261]

The more things change the more they stay the same.

[@weegizmi1]

Why are these people looking for sympathy? They were trying to wriggle out of paying their taxes! They deserve all they get.

[@SimonSmith-yd6tt]

As a person who despises the British Honours system I have to say that for all the work that Dan Neidle has put in (often being threatened with being sued by those he was investigating), there should be at least CBE in it for him.

[@joewilliams9535]

Prison for Michelle and Doug

[@bereal6590]

There are many more of them that went through the VIP lane and more focus needs to go on them not just these 2. The Tories are sacrificing them to cover for all the others and sunak wrote off the fraud, refusing to chase it. Reason, because they're all involved. Same reasons all their messages went missing!

[@joewilliams9535]

@@bereal6590 spoken by a real Scotsman !

[@davecrow2504]

Never will happen

[@BillDavies-ej6ye]

This can't be the Michelle Mome who falsified her qualifications for a high level job, leading to her redundancy, or falsified that a famous actress used her product in a film, denied by the film's creators?

[@edmurth]

Brake out the tiny violin for the ones who signed up, they knew what they were doing. You can’t have a society unless you’re willing to contribute to it.

[@jakobthelibrarycard6261]

I can't help but agree with your point and I have little sympathy for folk who knowingly avoid paying tax, but yet again it's the bottom feeders being penalised and the sharks walzing off into the sunset with the spoils.

[@edmurth]

@@jakobthelibrarycard6261 I wholeheartedly agree , the guardian has just published a piece on how prosecutions of wealthy tax avoidance by HMRC is virtually none existence funnily enough. The fish rots from the head down I guess.

[@edmurth]

@@mariokapalka7364 meaning they thought they could use some legal loophole to avoid doing what other people can’t and did so regardless of the morality. People know if what they’re doing is fundamentally right or wrong.

[@nyali2]

@@mariokapalka7364 Are you OK there? You think that people making North of 500K a year don't know the basic rules? There was a legally sound tax avoidance opportunity.. they took it.. they got burnt. So what?

[@alanrobertson3172]

Horrible people.

[@adampalmer6491]

Alternative headline, people try to avoid paying tax through Tory cronies, have to pay tax back (insert shocked pikachu face)

[@DarkCyberUK]

@@deeperanddownthat's true, they still will find a way to not pay it back

[@user-tz7id8lg7g]

Barrowman and his wife should be arrested and jailed for Life.

[@kennethatkins9250]

Get them both in court . and face the consequences of their actions

[@aficio698]

There is a fine line between an entrepreneur and a crook. 🤔 arrogant vile people.

[@Brockite]

The line may be fine but Barrowman is a long way over it.

[@EthanZoid]

I will enjoy seeing the yacht on auction 😂😂😂😂😂

[@priscillaroberts7945]

E bay or vinted?

[@honved1]

So the 1st guy had to go to a state funded hospital as a result of getting his fingers burned in a tax avoidance scheme?

[@dw-yl3ln]

It was darkly hilarious when hearing about how paying 90k on an illegal thing he signed up for then broke every little bit of his life. I mean, come on. Doth protest a bit too much.

[@bakedbean37]

Always bear in mind that these are the same type of people who think that trade unions and minimum wages are immoral and an unjust imposition on their ability to amass wealth.

[@bereal6590]

Spot on!👏👏✌️

[@dom9882]

It's weird painting these people as victims when they themselves were trying to avoid paying tax. It's simple. Pay your taxes!!

[@johnstirling6597]

I have very little sympathy for these tax evaders, the primary rule to live by is be very wary of buying a tax minimisation scheme, in the long run ,(as these people found out) you are way better off paying the tax and cutting your cloth to fit. Having said that people like Barrowman and Mone are just opportunistic bottom fishers that deserve everything coming to them.

[@stephenbarr4323]

Sorry, all these people whining about loan charges are in that position because they were trying to avoid paying their tax in the first place. Just because the guy who sold it to them is a worse guy doesn’t mean they deserve sympathy.

[@davidhardaker192]

When I clean my garden I come across these enormous grey slimy slugs which remind me of such people.

[@notheotherklaus]

It’s well known; the well to do in England pay little or no taxes!

[@lewilewis3944]

Not always. A substantial amount of the UK rich have asked to pay more taxes yet are prevented by law. Old money and 'The City' have fought tooth and nail against wealth tax increases, the ones that own the system. Yet many, including most at the latest Davos meeting called for higher taxes on the rich. Bill Gates gives away more than 50% of his personal profits via his wife's foundation because he isn't taxed enough, in his opinion.

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

​@lewilewis3944 NO they have not, NEVER EVER....

[@django3422]

​@@lewilewis3944Be very wary of when rich folk like Gates via "charities" that they own... he's not got anyone else's best interests at heart. If he did, he wouldn't be the person he is today.

[@lewilewis3944]

Delusional much? @@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834

[@user-eq4td4fn4b]

None of these people deserve sympathy. They were not duped by a fraudster trying to scam them. They knew what they were getting into. I worked for a company just outside of London and a few of my colleagues started to do this scheme (or one similar - I can't remember the name). I met with an advisor from an accounting firm who was pushing the scheme and he told me that the government never looks retrospectively and that they had a legal fund to challenge anything. I walked away from it as it wasn't morally right. We all need to pay tax. This was literally avoiding all tax and the company took a percentage - I seem to remember 8%. I didn't want anything to do with it and my colleagues have subsequently ended up in a similar to position to the people here. I consider them to be decent people, but they are also intelligent enough to make their own mind up. Also, the people in this programme are only being asked to pay the tax that they would have had to pay previously, plus interest and a fine. I don't see them as victims, however they government should also go after Doug Barrowman if he has committed fraud.

[@conorbarry1928]

There is a big different between being homeless and not owning a home....

[@flyingface]

Hard to feel for Doug...he wanted to engage in tax avoidance

[@a13xdunlop]

So they tried to evade tax and it did not work out.

[@tonymchardy3885]

£4k per month for 3 years 😳 how much were you earning to avoid that much tax 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️

[@stephenmortimer2035]

Time it was put before courts Tax fraud Ppe That amount money stole Should carry a very very long jail sentence Mone also .

[@alanbrown9178]

I trust the bbc will investigate the other recipients of government funds for covid contracts with the same vigour.

[@TUNTALKS]

This is his old yacht. The yacht that he purchased during the pandemic is 87 meters long and is currently being built in Turkey by a company called Turquoise Yachts. He paid at least £200 million for it. It's likely that the sail of his Motor Yacht and his sailing yacht plus the proceeds of the PPE sales have gone towards this new yacht. This new yacht will cost over £50,000 A DAY just to maintain.

[@johnstirling6597]

"sale"

[@adelaferreira4575]

Wow there are crooks everywhere ,so sad for these people who can loose everything because of a fraudulent so call business millionaire !

[@edmurth]

Don’t feel sorry for them, they signed up to dodgy tax avoidance schemes, they knew exactly what they were doing. They’d like to take the benefits of living in our society without contributing to it, they do not deserve our sympathy.

[@martinrobinson9061]

Tories looking after Tories. Tories always looking after themselves, their friends and donors. PPE money to their donors and friends.

[@philmulrooney7020]

That poor woman that is having to pay over £4k a month to HMRC looks like she’s comfort eating to compensate

[@idreamtiwasbackatmanderley414]

As a matter of fact the yacht you see is being sold since a new longer one (87 meters with outdoor cinema, swimming pool, helicopter pad) is shortly going to be delivered… Fun fact old yacht was renamed « Pandemic Profiteer » by activists whilst mooring in Barcelona

[@julianshepherd2038]

Thatcher's children

[@user-qk2rv6qv2f]

Why r getting away with it 😮

[@gemmawalker9179]

Who ever come up with stitching these two up shouldn't have to pay for a drink ever again nice1

[@ertomax8162]

Trouble is people like this rarely get successfully prosecuted and punished by the law. If it were an 'ordinary' person they'd be prosecuted and punished, possibly with a jail sentence. The 'ordinary' person is really easy prey for the authorities. Think about that.

[@willieckaslike]

Only this one ? Every single contractor who has been awarded a contract by HM Government during the last 25 years at least should be independently audited and put under public scrutiny. As this is obviously NOT the only time & case where this has happened ! Sadly, the British Public has been deceived time & time & time again, by successive Governments of both major parties & their allies !

[@StickyBud9395]

Come on, we all know Baroness Mone(y) and her slimy husband will face no real punishment.

[@CimonSowel1]

Hes got a face you wouldn't get sick of driving and reversing over.

[@dodgyscampton5668]

Is the taxpayer now expected to use tax revenue to help out people who tried to avoid paying their share of tax?

[@Fishingadventureuk]

The system is potty 😂

[@petewitkowski5315]

Those two lowlife's should be on trial for fraud,but some how they will sneak their way out of it.Remember Nadhim Zahawi who riddled out of trying to avoid paying tax by playing dumb.

[@jondobbs]

If you owe a lot of tax then you’ve earnt a lot to start with

[@nickglanville8497]

Not just the husband

[@harpo7226]

All that money and can’t get a shirt to fit him.

[@chrisbates7743]

Most new build in the UK is stealing VAT via off shore tax reclaims, whilst double claiming through UK registered subsidiaries.

[@DPK12]

No pity for any of those “contractors” earning your £ but pay your tax. AML should be sued

[@josephhoward3558]

Barrowboy.

[@tonyyoung3634]

It's their own fault,pay your taxes and sleep at night,HMRC need to look closer at the MP's and clear the swamp.

[@pashtunchannel1038]

Na he ain’t getting off Scott free by the look in the eyes of that determined tax lawyer!!

[@xcel5203]

Charlie and the house of Windsor have gotten off for decades ...

[@shobnagooding4973]

THEY SHOULD BE IN JAIL

[@digglerdudeuk]

These people are the real criminals.

[@ThickBanana]

It's baffling how unethical people can be.

[@user-qk2rv6qv2f]

This country is on its knees someone needs to be arrested

[@mimikhan9546]

Very Sad.

[@CC-fd4hv]

Disgusting

[@stephenfloat1260]

No sympathy. trying to avoid paying income tax and stealing from the public glad they got caught just waiting for the same to happen to MP's

[@jamesvaile6916]

Well what are we waiting for. Why is the system so slow at prosecuting. All the gotten gains will have vanished already.

[@user-jj7vf2ib7z]

Send them both to prison and the rich company owners immediately for lying to mankind and nature

[@peterbradshaw8018]

Was that Robert Maxwell yacht at one time.

[@donholt3361]

Make him give his teeth back.

[@user-dj2rm8ui9b]

The real criminal here.

[@dazfire5646]

Can't feel sorry for someone who works in Oil and Gas and makes a boatload of cash. You should have paid your damn taxes!

[@Dogboy73]

It’s hard to believe how some people fall for these kinds of schemes. But, sounds like AML should never have existed in the first place. Dodgy as hell.

[@lynnebrownridge2866]

What a vile couple ......they should be in prison .....and be made to work in food banks too .....horrible people ....no shame !!!!!

[@saferandquieteroads]

The U.K. is broken.

[@369dabbler]

Bang em up

[@graemehobbs1909]

In an ideal world .. OUTLAW TAX HAVENS! CONFISCATE THE MONEY !

[@denisedavies5952]

If you had paid your share of tax like most working class people have to instead of trying to avoid it you wouldnt be in this mess . This is one of the things thats wrong with this country . The rich get richer because of these schemes .

[@sweetvuvuzela4634]

You mean he should be in prison both of them? Some one does not pay tv licence they get bailiff round

[@Rogerjones44194]

They should have paid there tax in the first place 😂

[@lewilewis3944]

*their

[@deejames9380]

When the government takes directly from your salary, you don't have the luxury of subscribing to scams like this. My heart does not weep for these people. Greed is not good

[@stephenconnolly3018]

All this was allow with the help top government officials looking the other way.

[@boatingmanchester]

Argh the fraudster and the brass what a lovely pairing

[@DavoInMelbourne]

'Should,' but won't.

[@ebrahimkarolia4812]

The guy gives the impression that he is dodgy to the bone.

[@terrywrist8448]

rich people getting mugged off by rich people

[@stefanpietrzyk8079]

Where there’s a scheme, there’s a schemer , and a fool ready to adopt it. ?

[@user-jg2yz5ki2t]

"you have to spend it on something" Oh you will Dougie-boy, legal fees and a swanky (silent 's') new gaff on the moon.

[@robhayes6121]

Have they returned the money for the not fit for purpose, NHS equipment. Scammers.

[@dukemasters6829]

Yes and double yes

[@wademorgan9288]

The dishonest man denies being dishonest 😆😆 what a surprise... Why bother even asking him

[@michaelmarriott11]

Treason

[@johnwilletts3984]

I’m a British pensioner lucky enough to have a small private pension to supplement my state pension. A few years ago the financial consultant looking after my pension called me to his office for some good news. He had found a way to take me out of income tax completely. Of course I said NO, because I’m not a Tory. I like to support our military, police and health workers, heroes all. Anyone not prepared to pay U.K. taxes, should either have U.K. services withdrawn or sent to live in whatever tax haven they are using.

[@allanashworth2990]

Greed - it will always catch up with you - one way or another

[@mimikhan9546]

Loan Sharks. Named Sharks For a reason.

[@garybarnett2756]

Stay away from anything with the word scheme in it.

[@Fishingadventureuk]

@2:49 imagine complaining about health issues while trying to cheet the nhs out of funding 😅😅 whod of thunk that dodging tax would lead to trouble.

[@Talia778real]

Oh

[@coolcat6103]

Why is this news?

[@mydogky]

sorry no sympathy welcome to the real world, if they didn't do the tax avoidance our NHS would not be in the shite and millions of us wouldn't be dying because of it.

[@stuartmcilmoyle6175]

Coming from the bbc I fail to believe anything they say .

[@johnhawden4118]

tax avoiding people have to pay tax back...ha

[@m2thep2theaargh]

03:11 - aw diddums, cue the world’s smallest violin (oh… they did!)

[@mimikhan9546]

This is why people top themselves.

[@nyali2]

I am going to cry for the victims, who participated in a tax avoidance scheme. That yacht documentary is ages old, it is not from 2022 (journalism at its best).

[@BlueInk912]

Why so few likes??

[@williemacdonald72]

So the folk are upset that they are being fined for tax avoidance. Boo hoo