The 77-year-old top tax lawyer has been charged with two counts of ‘defrauding the public revenue’ after HMRC accused him of evading taxes for almost a decade

A senior tax lawyer has been charged with ‘defrauding the public revenue’ after being accused by HMRC of evading tax for nearly a decade.

Robert Venables, 77, faces two charges for his ‘personal tax situation’ in what is thought to be the first case of its kind against a ROK.

The lawyer appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last December but did not enter a plea.

Venables, former president of the Revenue Bar Association, denies both accusations.

The statement, made from his rooms at 15 Old Square in Lincoln’s Inn, said the prosecution was not concerned with the circumstances of any of his past or present clients and said Venables was “confident that he has paid all the tax legally due”.

Robert Venables KC accused of defrauding HMRC for almost a decade

A specialist in tax law, Venables has written several books on the subject, including in the areas of offshore and inheritance tax.

He graduated with a degree in classics from Merton College, Oxford, before studying law.

Venables later served as a law lecturer at the university’s St Edmund’s Hall until 1980, and remains an honorary fellow of the university.

After joining the Bar in 1973, Venables was promoted to King’s Counsel, or the then Queen’s Counsel, in 1990.

In addition to serving as the President of the Revenue Bar Association between 2001 and 2005, he is also a council member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

HMRC’s prosecution is the first of its kind against a ROK (file photo)

Old Square Tax Chambers told Clifford Chance’s tax law expert Dan Neidle that Venables continues to have the “full support of the chambers”.

Solicitors and barristers facing prosecution by HMRC often either withdraw or are suspended from law firms, but Venables continues to work.

The latest edition of the Chambers Directory describes Venables as ‘hugely experienced and someone you can trust to approach things from a different angle to get results’. Times reported.

His next hearing will be held on May 11 next year.