Patrick McCoy, the former head of investment advisory for KPMG in the UK, is among 10 people charged with tax cheating offences who have been ordered to appear in a UK court on February 23rd, a UK prosecutor said on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the group had been told to appear at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court to answer charges of conspiracy to cheat UK tax authorities.

The announcement is the latest scandal to hit the firm, which in November announced that four senior partners in Northern Ireland had been placed on administrative leave following their arrest and questioning in Belfast in relation to allegations of tax evasion.

Mr McCoy was last listed as active on the Financial Services Register of authorised persons in financial services on December 15th. He did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.

KPMG said in a statement it was aware charges had been made against one of its former partners following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs, the government’s tax agency, which related to his personal tax affairs. It noted that he was no longer a partner of the firm.

“It should be stressed that the matter does not relate to client work conducted by the partner or KPMG or to KPMG’s own affairs,” the company said.

“We have been and remain fully available to cooperate with the authorities as necessary but we cannot comment further on a matter which is the subject of legal proceedings.”

Reuters