Hi Schipoo, I don't share that concern. HMRC's appeal process deals just with your appeal against the determinations for the relevant tax years and the tax they now seek to recoup. In dealing with YOUR tax affairs, HMRC is uninterested in Maxwells/FTR or their directors/employees. This is onfo you need to pass on to the police. We may bring the points I made in post #108 above to the attention of HMRC in the appeal process, suggesting they failed to act with due diligence but this may be ignored anyway. Get a meeting with the police and have the info ready to pass on then.

Thanks for checking on that. No, Action Fraud have simply noted the report but appear not willing or able to help you personally. That's why forcing the issue with the police remains an important step if you can do it. If the police are again telling you to report to Action Fraud, I would go back to the police and say they should not just leave this to AF. Instead, they should investigate the crime you allege was committed against you by Maxwell/FTR. I would tell them you'll make a formal complaint if they continue to refuse to investigate.

Hi Schipoo, No need to upload the comms for now. But can you confirm if Maxwells/FTR made any reference to an EIS investment, or anything specific relating to a possible tax refund. What stage are you at with the police ?

You are wrong to say this. There are many threads here about this same issue and, of the threads where people come back and tell us what happened, they all get their money back. But there's no point in guessing - wait until you have some news about your money, or getting benefits paid into the Monzo account.

The bank is following Anti Money Laundering Regulations. They have to do this and you will not get any compensation from them. You will get access to your money again but it's a matter of how long you have to wait.

Hi Bdh and thanks for the answers. As I said above, you should try to open a new account at a different bank, in case Barclays decide to close your account. You will get your money back from Barclays, but we can't tell you when this will happen. In the future, use a bank account regularly to pay money in, don't wait so long and then pay in a large cash amount.

Hi Bdh, Can you tell us more about :- 1. What work did you do before you were self employed. 2. What work do you do now as a self employed person. 3. Do you deal just in cash in your business for income you receive and materials you buy. 4. When did you pay the £8,000 into the bank. We have seen many cases where the bank holds your money for weeks but they can tell you nothing about what is happening. You need to do whatever you can to manage without the money for now, until you get it back. You should also think about opening a new account with another bank, in case Barclays close your account when this is sorted.

Hi Schipoo, 1. HMRC suggest you were complicit in the fraudulent claim of tax relief to some extent, evidenced by you providing Maxwells with documents, information and access. Do you still have a copy of all emails and text msg comms with Maxwells/FTR ? I ask because we've seen this in Dixon's case and we can seen virtually nothing said in comms about EIS being claimed - only FTR telling Dixon to back off and leave FTR to deal with it all. So let us know if you have all comms available to review. 2. HMRC say about EIS - " in order to claim this relief, the individual needs to have made a qualifying investment in a company, the company is required to submit forms to HMRC and HMRC needs to issue authorisation for compliance certificates to be issued to the investors, which enables any relief to be claimed " So I suggest, when replying to challenge the latest decision, you ask: - Referring to your comments about EIS relief, please confirm if HMRC issued authorisation certificates for the EIS company for which tax relief was given. If no such certificates were issued to the company or investors, surely HMRC was premature to allow such relief without sight of proof of investment, given the relatively rare nature of EIS relief claims. 3. Under the heading Travel & Subsistence, HMRC says - " I cannot see how it would be a reasonable expectation for you to conclude that any expense claims made on your behalf could be accurate " The answer to that could be - "I engaged Maxwells as tax experts and had no reason to doubt or question their advice or their actions." Any Joy yet with the police ?

Hi Swales and welcome to CAG Bannatynes tell users they require 3 months notice to leave but we always tell folk to challenge/ignore this. I doubt you're bound to Bannatynes by vitue of the Virgin agreement. Do as DX says - printed letter addressed to the Gym Manager :- Dear sir or madam, This is 30 days notice that I am cancelling my gym membership. I will allow 1 final payment to be taken by DD, after which I will tell the bank to cancel the DD mandate. Yours faithfully, If they say you have to give 3 months notice, don't even bother arguing with gym staff. Let us know if you get any demands from the gym or maybe ARC (their admin company).

You need to be insistent with the police - don't let them fob you off with, "You should report this to Action Fraud". Insist on speaking to CID; if you continue to be blocked, ask why they're refusing to investigate a scam that may well have netted hundreds of thousands of pounds for the perpetrators; tell them you'll escalate your complaint to seniors if necessary; tell them you were not aware of what Maxwell/FTR were doing and they abused the access you gave them; tell them you are one of many victims and will do whatever it takes to have this investigated properly. If that fails to get the response you deserve, complain to your MP with very brief details of the scam and the police's failure to investigate. Unless you get more pushy, you'll have no chance of disputing HMRC's claim for repayment of the full amount.

Hi Schipoo, You have 30 days to submit further objections - make sure this does not catch us out and come back to remind us 7 days before the deadline. What progress have you made in contacting the police ?

Hi Dixon, Wait for further contact from the MP about their attempt to contact the MP responsible for HMRC and EIS. Also, no harm in contacting Alex Buckley at HMRC as sugested.

Hi Kallil, Your thread title refers to a fine but your first post does not. Can you post a copy of the letter as a single pdf but hide name, address, tax ref. no., etc. We need to see what they say. Did you normally file tax returns each year back in 2013/14 and 2014/15.

Yes Dixon, definitely. The more you can get involved, the better the chance of you all being heard !! Tell them to sign up here.

Hi dixon, No, I'm not aware of any of the other cases here going the same way as yours in the ways you mention. What's happened with the CCJ Warrant against FTR ?

A free Certificate of Posting from the Post Office counter is useful as proof of posting.

As you're not going to see the police for a week or more, I suggest you reply before the Tribunal deadline. Unless you have any other ideas, I suggest a letter back to HMRC Litigator :- Dear sir or madam, Thank you for your letter of xxdate. I am grateful to the judge for giving me a further opportunity to confirm any reasons I have to oppose the Application to Strike Out my appeal. I have not yet been able to have a face to face interview with Police CID to give them my evidence of the fraud commited against me and HMRC by FTR Ltd. This is likely to happen after the deadline given by the judge for me to respond. I have no further grounds to oppose the Strike Out Application at this stage. I can only reiterate, this is not a dispute between me and a tax advisor (FTR Ltd). My tax account was used by FTR Ltd in an unauthorised manner not known to me, nor allowed by HMRC. The majority of tax refunded was kept by FTR Ltd and I knew nothing of what they had done to secure the tax refunded. I understand the police are already investigating another similar case involving FTR Ltd. My other concerns are that HMRC were quick to refund tax to FTR Ltd, a newly acting agent; based on an unusual type of relief claimed (EIS); without sight of any investment certificates; and without checking the eligibility of the scheme I allegedly invested in. I suggest HMRC failed to act with due dilligence, being too quick refunding FTR Ltd in circumstances that should have been investigated better. Thank you for allowing me to put these matter to the Judge. Yours faithfully,

Hi Blog, Is there any further news at all on this please. Thanks

Hi Dixon, Any update on progress with getting proper attention from the police ? .......... or anything else ?

Hi Bboo, Get the SAR sent off to VM straight away as advised. VM are a nightmare in terms of Custr SServices. Stay off the phone and deal in writing only. Are you certain you were not in a renewed agreement. By not renewing a contract with them (like most providers), you often end up paying far more per month. Once you are certain of all your facts, you can decide how best to proceed.

Hi Super, What gym is this about ? Since a High Court case back in 2011, a gym contract for anything over 12 months is not enforceable. £15 per month for 3 years adds up to a lot, especially if you don't want to use the facility. If, on reflection, you each want to cancel, both send the gym a written letter sent by post and get a free Cert of Posting at the PO. You only need to say :- I refer the the gym membership I signed for on xxdate. As the agreement is for more than 12 months, it is unenforceable in law and I hereby cancel it with immediate effect. I have cancelled the DD mandate via my bank and will not enter into any discussion about this matter. That's it, send this and cancel the DD mandate . Let us know what you hear back from the gym or their agent.

Time to visit the police station, as I suggested above. ^^^^

Hi Dixon, Rather than getting another crime ref. no., your goal should be to speak to a CID officer and have them take proper details about the fraud your have been a victim of. Face to face and by appointment if necessary but, whatever it takes, talk to CID and tell them a significant fraud has been operated by FTR, there are many victims and the money taken in fraudulent tax refunds, at the very least, exceeds £100,000.

Hi Dixon, It's not clear yet who has got the attention of the police re Blog81's friend or contact. Nothing has come back on this yet despite me trying to get more info. I suggest you make your complaint direct to your own police force and do not be fobbed off with, "Oh, this should be reported to Action Fraud." Make it clear you have been the victim of a well-rehearsed fraud which has left you owing £,000's to HMRC while FTR and O'Hara have run off laughing. And it is your right to have this investigated by the police. Keep us posted ................

Ok so before the judge makes a ruling on the Strike Out Application, you've been given 14 days to file a response setting out any objections to their Application. I'll come back on this over the next few days. Meanwhile, have you been in touch with the police further to see what they're doing about investigating the frauds committed by FTR and O'Hara. You need to be pushing this, along with any others you know to have been scammed by FTR.