Sanjay Shah lands in Denmark after UAE extradition  

Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen

A British hedge fund trader arrived in Denmark on Wednesday following extradition from the UAE to stand trial over allegations he submitted fraudulent applications for $1.8 billion in dividend tax refunds.

Sanjay Shah was arrested by Dubai police last year following a request by Danish authorities to extradite him over his alleged involvement in so-called “cum-ex” tax fraud schemes, for which the Briton is the main suspect. He denies wrongdoing.

Danish prosecutors will ask a court to order that Shah is held in police custody until the start of his trial, which is scheduled to begin on January 8, the government said in a statement.

“This is one of our biggest and most serious cases of financial fraud,” justice minister Petter Hummelgaard said.

“No one is guilty until they have been convicted,” Hummelgaard later told reporters at a press conference.

The cum-ex schemes, which flourished following the 2008 financial crisis, involved trading shares rapidly around a syndicate of banks, investors and hedge funds to exploit the tax systems of countries such as Denmark, Germany and Belgium.

Investigations led by Germany and Denmark have triggered bank raids, arrests and prosecutions. Denmark has charged nine British and US citizens over the schemes, which it says have cost it more than 12.7 billion Danish crowns ($1.8 billion).

“Although the decision to extradite Shah is extremely disappointing, Shah has at all times maintained his honest belief that the trades undertaken, which are the subject of this case, were lawful,” said Chris Waters, partner at London-based law firm Meaby & Co, which is coordinating Shah’s defence.

Last month, Shah lost a final bid to block Denmark’s tax authority from pursuing him and others in London over the alleged offences, in a ruling by the UK Supreme Court that cleared the way for a year-long civil trial to begin next April.