QC facing jail after fraud conviction

Following a nine-day trial, an English QC has been found guilty of a charge of cheating the public revenue between 1st June 1999 and 24th September 2011.

"Rohan Pershad QC failed to pay VAT for a period of 12 years, despite charging his clients that VAT. As a result, he retained an additional private income of £624,579, which should have been paid to HMRC and the public purse," said Keri Ashworth-Beaumont, Specialist Prosecutor from the CPS Central Fraud Division. "By convicting him today, the jury has concluded that Pershad was acting dishonestly and his failure to pay was not simply an error or mistake."

"The message is clear; paying tax is not an optional extra, in any area of working life and withholding tax dishonestly may lead to prosecution," she added.