Reply to: Castlemaine Associates Ltd - Petition to Wind Up

[Water Dude]

Hindsight Hi, still in the process of trying to sort this mess out but very hesitant to hand over more money to Go/xxxx specially since the old guard have just vanished. I have DM'd you.

[Hindsight]

WTFH Thanks, yes, I’m aware of the relationships (and my past mistakes). And I pretty much agree with your options.

However, prior to finding this thread, I didn’t know of anyone else in the same situation as me, and I was rather hoping that
armando1065
Water Dude
might respond to this, as it sounds like they have ‘skin in the game’.
It would be particularly galling if I found out that Go Accountancy came good against the odds and everyone else got their money out of Bulgaria apart from me.

[WTFH]

https://find-and-update.company-info...8/appointments

Oh, and while you look at Callum Trew, also look at Raymond Anthony Trew (born 1989), Ray Trew (aka Raymond Arthur Trew, born 1954), Harry William Trew, Emily Catherine TREW and Aileen Fraiser Ritchie (aka Aileen Fraiser Trew or Aileen Trew, all born in February 1963), Kristina Katrina Trew, ...

Actually, knock yourself out: https://find-and-update.company-info...A%22Lincoln%22

And yes, it is the same Ray Trew: https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/...er-ray-3077195

[WTFH]

Yes (and HMRC are fully aware of how the scheme operated), but the reason for posting is to get opinions on whether it is worth trying to recover the money from the Bulgarian company. Go Accountancy & Outsourcing appear to be saying that, if I don’t agree to their terms, then even if the assets are unfrozen, I won’t see a penny.

Have you found the link between "Go Accountancy & Outsourcing", "Castlemaine Associates" and the un-named Bulgarian company?

It sounds very like Vanquish/AML.

Option 1: Pay HMRC what is owed ASAP, and write off the 10% you paid to the Bulgarian company
Option 2: Pay HMRC what is owed ASAP, and write off the 10% you paid to the Bulgarian company plus the x% you pay to Go Accountancy.

I would suggest that you need to be paying off HMRC as soon as possible as they will be charging interest. If you're unsure about how much, or how you will afford to do it, about the only place I would suggest spending money is on a tax advisor, such as Gilbert Tax.

[Hindsight]

Yes (and HMRC are fully aware of how the scheme operated), but the reason for posting is to get opinions on whether it is worth trying to recover the money from the Bulgarian company. Go Accountancy & Outsourcing appear to be saying that, if I don’t agree to their terms, then even if the assets are unfrozen, I won’t see a penny.

[woody1]

So you're still in possession of 90%?

[Hindsight]

Hi

No, that’s not quite right. I don’t really want to go into too much detail because I’m well aware that following the advice of Castlemaine was a mistake.

The way the scheme worked meant that the Bulgarian company retained 10% of the loan value for later settlement with HMRC, but then the Bulgarian tax authorities froze the company’s assets.

Go Accountancy & Outsoucing have offered to start legal proceedings to recover the money for a significant flat fee plus a substantial percentage of the recovered funds.

[woody1]

Just to be clear about what happened here. Have I got this right?

Say you had loans totalling £100k.
To get around the loan charge, Castlemaine advised repaying these loans.
You transferred £100k to an entity in Bulgaria.
You've never seen any of the £100k again. (Allegedly it's still in Bulgaria)
You're now on the hook with HMRC for tax on the loans (say to the tune of £40k).

[Hindsight]

Hi All,

I think I'm in a similar situation to Water Dude.

To be honest, I'm in a bit of a mess about this.

I also unfortunately got involved with Castlemaine, and have a substantial amount of money stuck in Bulgaria that was retained for future settlement with HMRC. Go Accountancy & Outsourcing are asking for a fee to try to get this money out of Bulgaria, but I don't know whether this is simply another scheme to squeeze even more money out of me. I really don't know what to do. If there's anyone in a similar situation, it would be great to hear your thoughts.

Many thanks in advance.

[woody1]

I think we made a massive mistake with this and just had no idea how to get out of it so we have stayed with them.
We went along with their advice, back in 17 to 19 and repaid the loans, via an entity they had in Bulgaria
Of which they kept a portion to pay tax man, which then got mysteriously held in Bulgaria.

Now 5 years down the line, no idea where we are with this and no idea what to do except stick with them.

So, you repaid the loans but still owe tax on them? Ie. double whammy?

I think it was debunked a long time ago that repaying loans would somehow remove any tax liability.

[cojak]

I think we made a massive mistake with this and just had no idea how to get out of it so we have stayed with them.
We went along with their advice, back in 17 to 19 and repaid the loans, via an entity they had in Bulgaria
Of which they kept a portion to pay tax man, which then got mysteriously held in Bulgaria.

Now 5 years down the line, no idea where we are with this and no idea what to do except stick with them.

It is NOT a good idea to do this - speak to a professional tax advisor who will help you with this. Anyone else just sees you as a sucker ready to be squeezed for more money.

Please look at Sunk Cost Fallacy: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forb...ses-and-pivot/

There are a couple of tax specialists posters here have used in the following posts: https://forums.contractoruk.com/hmrc...ml#post3012123

[courtg9000]

Is this the same Castlemaine, that was very heavily sold to UK contractors working in the Republic of Ireland about 25 years ago?? An IoM scheme?
They were paying the RoI agents for every lead they could.
I can tell a stroty about one of their reps at a do.... Makes Katie Price and Danille westbrook look like good catholic choir girls with their virtues in tact.

[Water Dude]

I think we made a massive mistake with this and just had no idea how to get out of it so we have stayed with them.
We went along with their advice, back in 17 to 19 and repaid the loans, via an entity they had in Bulgaria
Of which they kept a portion to pay tax man, which then got mysteriously held in Bulgaria.

Now 5 years down the line, no idea where we are with this and no idea what to do except stick with them.

[WTFH]

No replies from Castlemaine Associates Ltd, but I and others have received emails from Go Accountancy & Outsourcing which seems to have significant control (companies house website). Requesting additional money to continue fighting.

There's an interesting rabbit hole you could go down involving Callum Robert Alexander Trew and Aileen Fraser Trew (who also has used the surname Ritchie)

https://find-and-update.company-info...8/appointments
https://find-and-update.company-info...I/appointments
https://find-and-update.company-info...Y/appointments
https://find-and-update.company-info...Q/appointments
It's possible she even owns a film company... https://find-and-update.company-info...mpany/SC259805

Lots of rabbit holes to go down, but a rather funny one is that it looks like Callum and his brother Harry have their own "Invetsment" company:
C&H INVETSMENTS LTD
https://find-and-update.company-info...60011/officers
Where 19 year old Harry is a Trainee Tax Avoider, sorry, Advisor.

[cojak]

No replies from Castlemaine Associates Ltd, but I and others have received emails from Go Accountancy & Outsourcing which seems to have significant control (companies house website). Requesting additional money to continue fighting.

Well we all know what to do with that email, don’t we?



And I’ll just add what I’ve said before…

…Contractors have attempted to join class action in an to attempt to fight HMRC, but generally they have simply thrown good money after bad (search ‘class action’ in this forum).

The only thing that appears to work is to get a reputable tax specialist to negotiate with HMRC the sums involved and the best way to pay.