'Carousel fraud' bank's founder held for three more months

Controversial Dutch mult-imillionaire businessman John Deuss, who was arrested last month after his offshore bank allegedly aided 2500 UK tax carousel fraudsters, is to be held in custody in the Netherlands for another 3 months.

Prosecutor Hendrik-Jan Biemond, who also led the case against the Ahold accounting scandal, is still investigating the fraud, which involves importing, or claiming to import, mobile phones and PC parts from another EU country without paying VAT, then selling them on and pocketing the tax.

Deuss's First Curaçao International Bank (FCIB) was shut down after raids in co-operation with Dutch authorities. The Caribbean-based bank was popular not only with British VAT fraudsters, but apparently also aided Russian and Dutch companies involved with VAT fraud, according to sources close to the investigation.

Deuss denies any wrongdoing and lawyers acting for the former oil tycoon are planning to appeal the decision to keep him detained.

In the 70s Deuss used his bank to lure the Russian state oil company into signing a deal worth hundreds of million dollars, until he stopped paying them. Years of legal wrangling followed. ®