Denmark agrees extradition treaty with UAE, eyes British tax fraud suspect

Denmark on Thursday signed a general extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates which it said it would use to seek custody of a Briton charged with defrauding Danish tax authorities via so-called “cum-ex” trading schemes.

“This agreement aims to expedite specific criminal cases. This includes the extradition of one of the suspected perpetrators in the dividend tax case,” Denmark’s Justice Ministry said in a statement.

A spokesperson from the ministry confirmed to Reuters that the person in question is Sanjay Shah, a British citizen charged with swindling Danish tax authorities for as much as 7 billion Danish crowns ($1.04 billion).

Shah, who lives in Dubai, denies any wrongdoing and his spokesperson called the extradition treatment “political posturing.”

“We have maintained for the past seven years that he received legal advice that the trades were legal so there is no chance of extradition happening in the near future at all,” he said.

The ministry declined to comment on when a potential extradition could happen.

Danish prosecutors have charged nine individuals in several cases related to the dividend tax schemes, in which the Danish state says it was defrauded more than 12.7 billion crowns ($1.8 billion).