Peter Schroeder v Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs

Facts

Mr Peter Schroeder, a Canadian national living in Denmark, at all material times owned and controlled The Arena Corporation Limited, a company incorporated in the Isle of Man in March 1993 whose directors belonged to an Isle of Man corporate services firm; he became a director on 28 January 2003. Between October 2001 and April 2002 Arena, through Mr Schroeder, engaged in nineteen movements of alcoholic products from two London bonded warehouses, said to be destined for warehouses in Italy and Belgium. The Respondents concluded the goods had been fraudulently diverted and on 14 August 2002 assessed Arena to excise duty of £1,459,213 and £101,340, with a consequential value added tax assessment of £327,135. Arena sought reviews and appealed to the Tribunal. On 12 November 2003 Mr Schroeder lodged his own appeals against the two excise duty review decisions and the value added tax assessment. Meanwhile, the Respondents had petitioned to wind up Arena; on 12 December 2003 Lawrence Collins J found no real prospect of a successful appeal to the Tribunal, wound Arena up and gave summary judgment against Mr Schroeder with an interim payment of £500,000. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals on 25 March 2004; the provisional liquidator later withdrew Arena's appeals. The Respondents applied to strike out Mr Schroeder's appeals.