Q&A

These questions were put to me by the lawyers of a news outlet after they had asked Green Jellyfish for their comments ahead of a story they are planning on running, in which I may be featured and their response I believe contained several accusations, as detailed in the questions asked below.

I'm unsure if the response came directly from Green Jellyfish themselves, or via their solicitors Fladgate LLP

Do you know Dr Sanjay Kaushal and are you working with him to denigrate Green Jellyfish and divert attention in the months leading up to high court legal proceedings between Dr Kaushal and Mr Sotiris Christophi?

?No, I do not know Dr Sanjay?Kaushal and I most certainly am not involved in any attempt to denigrate Green Jellyfish.

?My only involvement with Dr Kaushal is that he was added to a Whatsapp group on the 15th?May 2024 which I have been a member of since 26th?April when I was asked to join after Mr. Christophis visit to my family home to threaten me.

?Since 15th?May and today Dr Kaushal has never commented in the Whatsapp group and the only contact outside the group I have had with him was on 20th?August, when he called me as he had seen the story Dan Neidle had released.?

?Are you making these allegations because you are a commercial competitor of Green Jellyfish?

?Most certainly not, firstly I do not consider Green Jellyfish a commercial competitor as based on the countless R&D claims I’ve seen of theirs; I wouldn’t be able to work for any of their clients as they have all been invalid. Secondly, I simply don’t work like that, I’ve been aware of Green Jellyfish since 2020, and it was only after Mr. Christophis visit did I start to investigate them further.

?What qualifications do you have to advise on R&D claims? Green Jellyfish allege that you “lack the necessary qualifications in tax or accountancy”.

?My background is in computer science in which both myself and my fellow director, Holly Rosser, hold qualifications and have decades of experience.

?I started working in R&D tax relief in 2009 when I was working for a large accountancy practice and since starting up on my own in 2012, we have always worked with accountants to help their clients claim R&D tax relief, as accountants tend to lack the technical skills necessary to prepare robust claims.

?As 90-95% of our clients come from accountants we have relationships with, or other R&D advisors who need some assistance, we typically take care of the technical side of the claim and leave the accountant to deal with the numbers. For this we are more than qualified and certainly more qualified than anyone who works for Green Jellyfish, or any of their connected companies based on the claims of theirs I have reviewed.

I have also written lots of articles for LinkedIn and various publications, which have always been well received by my peers, which simply would not be the case if I was not qualified in the field of R&D tax relief.

?Sotiris Christophi says his visit to your home in April was to have a?“constructive discussion, to address the challenges our industry is facing, and to find common ground”?and that you have misrepresented the meeting on LinkedIn in a defamatory way in order to gain attention. What is your response to that?

?This is the same narrative he put out a few days after the event and even if we ignore the fact that he could have requested such a meeting via the proper channels, email etc. it became very clear he came to my house in an attempt to threaten and intimidate me. ?Not as he says to have a constructive discussion.

?My recollection of the events I wrote down immediately after he left, copy attached, as I planned on reporting it to the police and so ensuring I had an accurate description of the event at the time would be important, otherwise memory degradation can be an issue. My father was a senior police officer and always told me if an event occurs, having witness statements taken as close to the event as possible is crucial in any investigation. Everything I wrote on LinkedIn was the truth, Mr. Christophi might not like that especially as he visited me to try and threaten me into keeping quiet, but it is the truth none the less and any claim to the contrary is a lie.

?Since my post on LinkedIn about the event, I have been contacted by several other people who say he did exactly the same to them, or worse where he used physical violence against them.

?Mr. Christophi is not a man who visits people’s homes for “constructive discussions”, he visits them to try and threaten, intimidate, or assault them when they have done something he doesn’t like, he is a bully and should not be allowed to continue conducting himself in this way.?

?As to my motivations for posting, that’s quite simple…I wanted it recorded somewhere in case Mr. Christophi decided to escalate matters.? This man, who I had never met, or spoken to before came to my family home to threaten me.? I had no idea at this stage who he was, or what he was capable of, so very much in fear for my family and my own safety, I posted online to serve as a public record. ??I was not expecting the response it got, so any claim it was for attention is laughable. ??

?As I said to you, I want less attention not more of it, as Green Jellyfish has, and is, taking up so much of my time and I have made zero from it.

?Could you provide a response to this part of the statement from Sotiris Christophi:

I should also like to take the opportunity to mention that, during our discussion, Mr. Rosser stated that “during the old days”- which I am assuming he is referring to the era prior to 08 August 2023, when R&D submissions did not require a report- he used to submit claims knowing they would not be checked in order to make a profit.

?I don’t recall making this statement, or anything like it. It’s also incorrect as every R&D claim I have ever submitted either via my company, or at my previous employed role,? I have provided a technical report and breakdown of the R&D expenditure being claimed, which in every single case was 100% honest and accurate. It is only Mr. Christophi and the companies he is associated with which submit dishonest R&D claim documentation, or in some cases none at all.

?The only thing he might be talking about is that I believe I mentioned that life was easier before HMRC increased their compliance activities in 2022 as the chance of a compliance check was lower and they are a lot of extra work for no extra fees. I also informed Mr. Christophi we had never had a claim rejected following a compliance check, which he didn’t believe as he said something like “Ours are 50/50”.

?Personally, and as I have said publicly, I like the new Additional Information Form, which became mandatory on 8th?August, as since then we have not had a single compliance check into any of our clients claims and it’s really helping HMRC deal with the advisors, like Mr. Christophis, who are behind lots of fraudulent R&D claims.