Ian Whitehurst appears in multi-million pound contempt of court case

May 28, 2025

Ian Whitehurst from Exchange Chambers has appeared in a multi-million pound contempt of court case at the High Court in London.

Instructed by Eileen Chisnall from Paul Crowley & Co Solicitors, Ian Whitehurst represented Michael Viney, an ex-UK tax adviser at BGC Group who admitted taking part in a £24 million scheme to defraud the broker-dealer.

Mr Viney was handed a 16-month prison sentence for contempt of court after the High Court said he had devised a scheme to hide and dissipate funds that he was supposed to use to reimburse the US company.

The judge found he tried to create a “secret financial reservoir” to avoid repaying his former employer.

BGC, which was led by billionaire Howard Lutnick before he became US commerce secretary this year, launched civil proceedings in 2020 after the broker-dealer said it had identified a “massive” £24m fraud perpetrated by Viney and another UK employee, Xavier Alcan.

The company accused the two of diverting cash due to or from the UK tax authorities into their own pockets between 2015 and 2020. BGC reached a settlement with Alcan last year.

Mr Viney was described by the judge as having been a senior staff member in “a position of significant trust”. In in May 2021, he admitted that he had received “misappropriated payments”. He acknowledged making false representations, including to HMRC, as well as doctoring emails and creating false documents as part of the fraud. The defendant “exploited his trusted position within the BGC Group to procure and conceal 32 separate fraudulent payments”, the judge said on Friday.

Mr Viney had been told to repay about £24 m in a court order in May 2022. However, he admitted last month that he had breached the order through repeated acts of further deception.

In mitigation, Ian Whitehurst told the judge last month that Viney had been under “considerable stress and strain” that had affected his judgment and led him to “actions of rank stupidity and also naivety”. He said Viney had co-operated with “large aspects” of the court order and that about £11m or £12m would ultimately be realised from him.

Mr Justice Dexter Dias acknowledged Ian Whitehurst’s “persuasively argued submissions” in his judgment.