Justice!
The Senior Partner of a law firm specialising in tax litigation has been left in limbo after his day in court was pushed back three years.
Sanjay Panesar, the founder of Rainer Hughes, was charged with two counts of acquiring criminal property in 2021. Another man, Avtar Hare, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to cheat HMRC.
Panesar was originally set to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court in September 2022, but that date came and went, and the CPS has now confirmed that “as things currently stand” he’s going to have to wait until April 2025 for an opportunity to clear his name.
"His case has been separated from other defendants due to different charges", said a CPS spokesperson.
The Crown Courts have been beset by record backlogs, with the most recent figures showing that 6,073 cases have been delayed for more than two years.
Given the marathon wait, it’s understandable that Panesar is continuing to practice despite being in the crosshairs of the CPS.
It does raise questions about the SRA's strategy, however, which was not to do anything until the court handed down its verdict.
"We are aware of this issue and await conclusion of the CPS’s case before deciding on any next steps", said an SRA spokesperson in 2021.
Asked whether that was still its position given that there might not be a verdict for several decades, the SRA said it was unable to comment by ROF's deadline.
In the meantime, Panesar can perhaps take his mind off things by completing the house.
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Comments
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Blimey, those two names are a blast from the past. I liked both of them [redacted]!
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My heart truly bleeds for Panesar - having to wait and carry on practising business as usual, money washing in-and-out of client account, advising people on tax schemes which rob from the rest of us, earning money from it, going on holiday. It's so tough for him.