Veteran jockey Frankie Dettori says he feels ‘embarrassed’ after he filed for bankruptcy having been unable to reach agreement with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over a long-running case of tax avoidance.
The BBC reports that the 54-year-old Italian, a mainstay of the British and European flat-racing scene for 37 years, has ridden more than 3 300 winners during his career.
Frankie Dettorri – master jock says he is ’embarrassed’ (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Dettori’s financial situation became public knowledge in December last year when his plea for anonymity lodged in November was rejected by a High Court judge.
The case was brought against Dettori after he had employed professional specialist tax advisers to oversee his and his family’s financial affairs.
Dettori, who was awarded an MBE in 2001, terminated relations with those advisers last year and subsequently employed the services of a different set of financial experts in attempt to resolve the case.
“For the last six months, my advisors have been working with HMRC in an attempt to find a solution to my financial situation,” Dettori said in a statement.
“I am saddened and embarrassed by this outcome and would advise others to take a stronger rein over their financial matters.
“Bankruptcy is a major decision and its consequences will affect me for many years.”
It is estimated Dettori, now based in California, has earned between £15-£20m from racing alone.
He has also made a name for himself outside racing, having been a captain on BBC programme A Question Of Sport, appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here and opened a series of Italian restaurants.
There has been no indication how much Milan-born Dettori, who partnered 287 Group One winners and rode all seven winners in one meeting at Ascot in September 1996, owed.
A HMRC spokesperson said: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and do everything we can to help those who engage with us to get out of debt, such as offering instalment plans.”
Dettori stopped riding in the UK in 2023 but has continued his career in the United States and says he now hopes to be able to concentrate on his day job.
“I am relieved to be drawing a line on this long-term matter, which enables me to reset and focus on my international riding career,” he said.
Jamie and Dad, Lester Piggott (Pic – Supplied)
Interestingly, the late Lester Piggott spent 365 days in prison for tax evasion in the late 1980s.
In 1987 the Inland Revenue brought charges against Piggott for what amounted to £3.2m in fraud, at that point the biggest ever individual tax-dodging case of all time.
According to an analysis of high profile tax evasion cases by the ATT’s Steven Perryman, Piggott channelled his earnings into bank accounts in Switzerland, the Bahamas, Singapore and the Cayman Islands to keep them away from tax inspectors.
Following a joint Customs/Revenue investigation, the prosecution alleged that Piggott made false declarations during three successive inquiries into his tax affairs between 1970 and 1985. According to the BBC News archive, the specific amounts included failing to disclose £1.36m of riding income during that period and another £1.0m from bloodstock operations.
Piggott’s fortune at the time was estimated to be worth roughly £20m.
Passing sentence, the judge noted that Piggott had misled his own accountants “until the matter was forced out of you” and sent him to prison for three years. In the end, he served one year and one day and two years later he was back out on the course, adding to his tally of wins.
Legend has it that the tax authorities only pressed charges after Piggott settled outstanding liabilities from the third tax investigation with a cheque drawn on an undeclared account, though the jockey dismissed this as a media hoax.
