Lycamobile boss Allirajah in tax trouble again

The Sri Lanka-born owner of the London-based giant telecommunication provider Lycamobile is again in the news over tax payments in Britain. Owner Subaskaran Allirajah was in the news last year too over a delay in filing of company accounts and was warned that he would be struck off the companies’ register and action taken if the matter was not settled in the extra time given to Lycamobile to meet the legal requirements.

A financial donor to the Conservative Party, Mr. Allirajah’s dispute with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Department is expected to prove a political embarrassment to the Conservatives fighting a general election next month. Lycamobile’s contribution to Tory party funds made news last year too when Mr. Allirajah was embroiled in a dispute with the Company House over the non-submission of accounts in time.
In the last years of the Rajapaksa presidency Mr. Allirajah was cultivating the SriLankan Airlines management to win the sole rights for a General Sales Agreement (GSA) with the airline in the hope of cornering the SriLankan Airlines travel market in Britain

According to reports circulating in Britain in the past few years, Sri Lankan politicians and officials visiting London were lavishly entertained. Mr. Allirajah was said to have tried to negotiate a GSA with the new management of the national carrier through political contacts including ministers.Last month, the Guardian newspaper which has little love for the Conservative Party carried a major story in its business section about the latest problems involving Lycamobile.

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