Britishvolt owner raided by Australian police over tax fraud suspicions
The offices of Britishvolt’s new owner were raided late last week by Australian police over suspicions of tax fraud, according to reports.
The British battery firm was bought by Recharge Industries earlier this year after it collapsed into administration.
Recharge is a subsidiary of Scale Facilitation, which is owned by Australian entrepreneur David Collard.
According to multiple reports, the offices of Scale Facilitation and SantieX, another Collard company, in Victoria were raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on Friday over alleged tax fraud.
IT and communications equipment were seized by the police as part of the tax fraud probe, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Scale Facilitation, Britishvolt and the AFP were contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for Scale Facilitation told the Financial Times, however: “We have and will continue to fully co-operate with the Australian Taxation Office and now the AFP. We deny any wrongdoing and will continue working with our legal and other advisers to defend any matters arising from these discussions.”
Recharge is currently looking to resurrect plans to build a multi-billion pound large-scale battery factory, or gigafactory, in Blyth, Northumberland, but it is still yet to purchase the land for the plant.