A British hedge fund trader has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Danish court for his involvement in a 9 billion kroner ($1.3 billion) tax fraud scheme. Sanjay Shah, who was extradited from Dubai to face trial, was found guilty of orchestrating a complex tax fraud operation that exploited loopholes to fraudulently obtain tax refunds from the Danish government.
The Danish taxation minister described the case as one of the biggest criminal fraud cases in Danish history. Shah, however, has maintained that he was operating within the bounds of the law and plans to appeal the sentence.
Shah's conviction in Dubai earlier this year revealed that the tax scheme ran from 2012 to 2015, during which foreign businesses falsely claimed ownership of shares in prominent Danish companies such as Novo Nordisk, A.P. Moeller, Vestas, and Carlsberg. The sentence handed down to Shah is reportedly the longest ever for a financial crime in Denmark.
Following an eight-year investigation and multiple extradition requests by Danish authorities, Shah was finally brought to justice. He remains in custody as he serves his 12-year prison sentence.
