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

This section deals with SKAT’s claims against Mark Patterson and Jas Bains, each of whom worked for Sanjay Shah and was closely involved in the Solo Model. They were both part of Mr Shah’s acquisition of control of Varengold Bank and Mr Patterson was also involved in the Dero Bank acquisition.

Mr Patterson joined Solo in March 2013 after working at a number of financial institutions, including Macquarie where he was a stock loan trader focused on div-arb transactions. Sanjay Shah had known him for 10 years or so before he joined Solo. By then, the Solo Model had been up and running for a year; and Mr Patterson’s key role became the orchestration of the trading, communicating to those trading for the equity buyers, short sellers, and stock lenders, the trades that were on offer to them around each dividend declaration in respect of which Solo (GSS) wanted trades to be done. He also assisted Solo, and the external participants, in liaising with the Solo Model brokers from time to time, and in supervising, or dealing with problems arising from, the execution of the planned trades by the participants involved. He helped to establish the Malaysian side of the Solo Model business, visiting Labuan as the first Solo Model LabCos were being incorporated and helping Mr Preston in particular to understand what he needed to be able to participate. He assisted Sanjay Shah with the automation of Solo Model trading for 2015. I agree with SKAT that on the evidence, particularly that of the spreadsheets tracking Solo Model outcomes and entitlements, more probably than not Sanjay Shah agreed with Mr Patterson as part of his move to Dubai that from then (and therefore, in the event, for Solo Model 2014 and 2015 trades), he would be entitled to 1.5% of the gross dividend amounts involved in Solo Model trades that generated successful tax refund claims (which is equal in amount to c.5.56% of the tax refund claim amount), although the amounts in fact paid to Mr Patterson for 2014 and 2015 Solo Model trading did not match that exactly.