Labour parliamentary candidate for Barking and fierce opponent of tax avoidance Margaret Hodge has been accused of hypocrisy over allegations she received £1.5million in shares from a tax haven.
The former chair of the public accounts committee has been a staunch critic of tax-dodging, famously calling for Take That star Gary Barlow to return his OBE over reports he was involved in a relief scheme last year.
But The Times has today claimed the multi-millionaire politician received £1.5million in shares from a company based in Liechtenstein, well-known for its low tax rates.
In 2011 Mrs Hodge allegedly benefited from the winding-up of a trust set up in the central European principality, which held shares in Stemcor – the steel-trading business set up by her father.
The 96,000 shares were apparently brought onshore using a system known as the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) which offers reduced penalties and no risk of prosecution for Britons moving undeclared assets back to the UK.
It is also reported that 75 per cent of the shares held in the trust had previously been held in Panama, which Mrs Hodge described last month as “one of the most secretive jurisdictions” with “the least protection anywhere in the world against money-laundering”.
The Post has tried to contact Mrs Hodge for a comment.
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