1 Barrister + 4 Boeing 747 engines = ??

All I can do is shake my head in sheer disbelief...A UK barrister (I hope "former" UK barrister...) has been convicted of trying to cheat the public revenue, and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Now call me slightly simple but if you claim that you just sold 4 Boeing 747 engines to an Iraqi airport for £100 million, and then tried to reclaim £17.5 million for VAT back from the UK, do you not think someone might say "Hmmmmmmmmmm....maybe we should look into that".

Well anyway, Mr John Wilmot formally of Temple Chambers is now enjoying the fruits of his multimillion pound transaction....good stuff!

To view the whole BBC article go here.

[p.s. I know it's not housing law but it caught my eye this afternoon.]

Scapegoats or Money-grabbing So & So's?

Flicking through my virtual Times (as you do) I stumbled into one of those lovely articles that sometimes cheers the cockles of your heart - "Former Bear Stearns fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin arrested by FBI".

For those who don't know, these two delightful individuals were Bear Stearns fund managers and "responsible" for the credit crunch.

The FBI then went on a little crazy session, arresting another 50 individuals, bringing the count to some 400 in three months.

Now they probably deserve what comes to them (...however I would think that, since I am having a trying time to attempt to sell my own house...) but if the US federal government decide to level "you brought the world to it's knees" charges, those lovely individuals will be ....for want of a better word - "screwed".

For those who would like to read it from the horse's mouth go to the The Times here.