An honorary sheriff is being investigated by police after an accountant complained that tax officials had been hoodwinked into handing over his private tax details.
Police are now investigating the role of Stornoway chartered accountant Roddy Cunningham and a retired partner from his firm, Jack Kernahan, who is an honorary sheriff.
It is being claimed that, despite several written warnings from HMRC that they were not entitled to the information, their firm continued to cajole tax staff in Inverness to hand over private details.
Police Scotland were notified in the early summer and it is understood the ongoing investigation centres on the activities of Mr Cunningham, of the accountancy firm Mann Judd Gordon, and Mr Kernahan.
Mr Kernahan is an honorary sheriff who regularly sat on the bench in Stornoway. He is now retired in Fortrose. Previously a partner with Mr Cunningham in Mann Judd Gordon, the firm has been involved in a protracted dispute over the last 10 years with another former partner, Angus Nicolson.
Mr Nicolson has since run Nicolson Accountancy with his accountant wife Sue and they have offices in Glasgow and Stornoway. He called in police after using data protection legislation to get details of correspondence and phone calls received by HM Revenue and Customs about his tax affairs.
A source close to the investigation said: “Angus complained after he discovered that, during the period from November 2007 to May 2008, certain figures at Mann Judd Gordon unlawfully obtained access to his personal tax records. He had ceased to be a partner in that firm in October 2004.
“The documents showed that HMRC received a phone call where someone from Mann Judd Gordon was “blagging” – by giving the impression they were acting as Angus’s tax agents and were entitled to the information. HMRC has also now received a formal complaint from Angus about the fraudulent actions which led to the tax officials being encouraged to break the law.”
The source claimed there had already been a letter from HMRC in March 2006 to Mann Judd Gordon advising the firm it had no right to Angus Nicolson’s tax details.
The source added: “Angus has told HMRC that Mann Judd Gordon committed a deliberate breach of the Data Protection Act and, by fraudulent misrepresentation, induced at least two revenue employees at Young Street in Inverness to breach the Finance Act, which is also a criminal offence.”
At this stage, HMRC is not prepared to go into any detail. A spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual cases.”
However, it added: “HMRC take the security of taxpayer data extremely seriously and take every care to ensure that taxpayer information remains confidential and secure.”
Police Scotland confirmed they had received a complaint. A spokesman said: “As this is an ongoing police inquiry, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
Neither Mr Cunningham nor Mr Kernahan responded to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Angus Nicolson said he had no intention of saying anything about the matter while police were investigating what had happened.
