Gary Hayes wins highly complex Commercial Court case

Gary Hayes acted for 38th Defendant Paul Preston in the SKAT v Solo Capital Partners LLP (in administration) and Ors case. In a judgment delivered by Mr. Justice Andrew Baker on Thursday 2 October 2025, the Court found that SKAT had failed to establish any of the claims it pursued at trial, where liability was disputed, and all those claims were dismissed.

The claim related to an alleged conspiracy involving fraudulent withholding tax reclaim applications. The case featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases” for 2021 and has been described by Foxton J as “one of the largest and most complex pieces of litigation to be heard in the Commercial Court”

Five claims were brought by the Danish national tax authority (‘SKAT’) in the Commercial Court in London. SKAT alleged that between 2012 and 2015, it was misled into paying over 4,000 invalid dividend tax refund claims. The total paid by SKAT in response to those claims was c.DKK12.1 billion (equivalent to c.£1.4 billion). SKAT alleged that it was the victim of fraud, and of a conspiracy to commit fraud against it involving many individuals and corporate entities based in various locations around the world, including London, Dubai, New York and Malaysia.