Allcock blamed for company collapses
Doubt has been cast over high-profile investigations involving jailed Inland Revenue tax inspector Michael Allcock which led to the collapse of Polly Peck and City stockbrokers TC Coombs.
Levy Gee tax investigation specialist John Gwyer claims a 1990 Serious Fraud Office investigation into Coombs should not have been launched on the basis of ‘confidential’ information passed between the Revenue, SFO and Stock Exchange surveillance unit. The company collapsed after an SFO raid, but criminal charges were later thrown out.
Allcock, imprisoned for corruption, was blamed for Polly Peck’s downfall by Asil Nadir’s former aide Elizabeth Forsyth, cleared this week of handling stolen funds.
The allegations came as Revenue Board chairman Sir Anthony Battishill confirmed other tax staff are under investigation in the wake of Allcock. Battishill, speaking before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said disciplinary action was an internal matter.
Gwyer said: ‘The Stock Exchange is not a Government body and here it is, in these two cases, with information from the Revenue received in confidence.’
Forsyth claimed that collusion between Allcock, the Stock Exchange and SFO led to another SFO raid in 1990 on South Audley Management – the private company Forsyth ran on behalf of Nadir. She said: ‘That raid, which directly led to the collapse of Polly Peck’s shares, I now know, was mounted as a result of Allcock’s activities.
Levy Gee’s Gwyer added: ‘The ramifications of this are extremely serious for the Revenue. We are in crying need of a proper public account from the Revenue. A lot of what went wrong with Polly Peck involved Allcock.’
