Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
£54M TAX ‘TEA LEAF’ IS BACK IN BUSINESS
Convicted fraudster unmasked as new company boss in court
ONE of Britain’s biggest fraudsters is back in business – even though he stole £54million from the taxman and never paid back a penny.
Conman Ian Leaf, nicknamed ‘The Tea Leaf ” has changed his name and now allegedly runs an offshore company with another ex-convict.
Leaf was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years jail in 2006. On top of the £54m he stole through tax refunds, Inland Revenue investigators found he had amassed an extra £43m in profit.
The ex-car salesman lived the high life in a chateau on Lake Geneva, but when he was told to pay back some of the cash he claimed it had vanished.
But Leaf, 65 – now called Ian Andrews – was this week unmasked in court as the man behind Consult Partners.
The court heard that Kevin MacLeod, 59, helps to run the company as a consultant.
MacLeod was called Kevin Steele in 2008 when he was kicked out of Mishcon de Reya – the legal firm used by Princess Diana in her divorce.
He was later jailed for five years for helping steal £18.4million.
The former director at Queens Park Rangers football club helped forge documents as part of a dodgy bid to buy luxury property on a resort where footballer Wayne Rooney owned a villa.
Despite their fraud convictions, neither Andrews or MacLeod were ever barred from running businesses.
And now they stand accused of sharp practice again by their former business partner Arpit Ahuja.
Consult Partners are suing Mr Ahuja for £75,000 for allegedly stealing business ideas and taking clients. But Mr Ahuja denies the allegations – and is now counter-suing for £18,250. He says they parted ways after he found out about Andrews’ past.
The Central London County Court heard this week that Mr Ahuja also claims Andrews siphoned off £55,000 that was owed to creditors and ploughed it into other companies.
Mr Ahuja also claims he was kept in the dark about MacLeod’s fraud conviction and previous name.
Andrews, who caught the bus home after this week’s disclosure hearing, is also accused of moving business to a Seychelles tax haven to conceal his involvement. The court heard Andrews denied claims Mr Ahuja was threatened, abused and blackmailed.
As the Tea Leaf in 2006, Andrews was given a confiscation order to pay back £16.25million.
But he told Southwark Crown Court he was in debt, blaming 9/11 and the burst of the dotcom bubble.
Last night he told the Sunday Mirror he had disclosed his involvement in all firms in accordance with the law and said MacLeod was not operating any businesses.
He said: “To allege or imply I have registered new businesses in the Seychelles in order to mask my involvement in these or other businesses is untrue.”
He claimed the only wrongdoing in the case was committed by Mr Ahuja and his wife and said Mr Ahuja’s “bare assertions have been made without any supporting evidence”.
He said all of his assets were passed to an official receiver after his conviction and no business was being run as a result of failure to seize his assets.