CL-2018-000297, CL-2018-000404, CL-2018-000590, - [2025] EWHC 2364 (Comm)

In my judgment, Mr Klar undoubtedly instigated the submission of tax refund claims by Goal in respect of Klar Model trading, for claims submitted on behalf of Blue Ocean and Cole, as well as for claims submitted on behalf of his own entities, Europa and Khajuraho. If, contrary to my findings, (i) SKAT was misled into paying Klar Model tax refund claims by one or more of the misrepresentations it alleged, and (ii) that was within Mr Klar’s intent in encouraging the submission of those claims, then the consequent finding would have been that Europa and Khajuraho, acting by Mr Klar, were each liable for deceit in respect of the tax refund claims submitted on their behalf, and Mr Klar was liable with them. I have no basis in the evidence, however, to find against Blue Ocean or Cole that, through Mr Kenning or Mr Bergeron, they had any thought that SKAT would be or was being deceived. If Mr Klar did not have a primary liability on the basis of using inter alia Blue Ocean and Cole as instruments of his for practising deception upon SKAT, I could not have found that he had instead an accessory liability for a deceit practised by either of those entities.