CEO of tax specialist cleared of wrongdoing after HMRC climb down

The chief executive and a former director of the tax specialist arm of financial group Montpelier have been cleared of cheating the public revenue of £1m, after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) dropped the case against them.

Watkin Gittins, chief executive of Montpelier Tax Consultants, and Martin Calcutt, a former director at the firm, had been charged with the offence in respect of a £1m charity relief tax scheme. However as the trial was reaching the end of its second week at Liverpool Crown Court, the prosecution asked the judge to direct the jury to acquit both men after deciding to offer no further evidence against them. A formal verdict of not guilty was entered by the jury and the case came to an end. Trouble at the group The Montpelier Group of companies included an independent financial adv...