Gary Lineker's financial adviser killed himself after becoming depressed when HMRC branded plan he recommended to wealthy clients a tax-avoidance scheme

Published: 22:08, 1 August 2026 | Updated: 22:08, 1 August 2026 Gary Lineker's financial adviser killed himself when he became depressed after recommending wealthy clients take part in a controversial tax-avoidance scheme, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Tax expert Peter McGarvey helped his clients invest in Ingenious Media's film-financing scheme, which gave them hefty tax breaks on their incomes. But his friends told the MoS that he 'descended into a state of depression' after Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) deemed it a tax-dodging scheme having initially approved it. Mr McGarvey, who is understood to have been godfather to one of Lineker's sons, took his life in five-star hotel Belmond's Miraflores Park in the Peruvian capital Lima in September 2015. His body was found in his room four days after he asked two of his neighbours in his home village of Willoughby-on the-Wolds, Nottinghamshire to sign his will. An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard Mr McGarvey injected himself with lethal drugs. The tragic circumstances of his death emerged after Lineker wrote an open letter last month with 100 other millionaires to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham asking to be taxed more. The MoS last week revealed how critics accused Lineker of 'hypocrisy' since he previously won an appeal against the taxman over a £4.93 million tax bill. He was also criticised for taking part in the Ingenious scheme with dozens of other household names such as Sir David Beckham, Ant and Dec and Sir Bob Geldof.  Television presenter Gary Linekeer is seen outside his London home in March 2023  The scheme involved a person becoming a director in a company owned by Ingenious and investing more than £100,000 a year, which would go towards funding a film. Blockbusters such as Avatar and Life Of Pi were partly funded through Ingenious. HMRC began its clampdown on the scheme in the early 2010s, when hundreds of celebrity investors, including Lineker, were told to repay millions in tax. In 2012, HMRC's then boss Dave Hartnett described such schemes as 'scams for scumbags'.Mr McGarvey, whose other clients included athlete Paula Radcliffe and former football international Peter Shilton, advised other sports stars to invest in the scheme, including cricketer David Gower. But when HMRC began to claw back money from his clients, he felt his life's work 'was being undermined'. One friend said: 'It made him seem fraudulent.' By January 2015, front-page stories were reporting that HMRC had demanded Lineker pay £1.3 million in unpaid tax within 90 days. The then BBC presenter later denied that he had received this demand. The MoS obtained an audio record of Mr McGarvey's inquest in June 2017 before assistant coroner Ivan Cartwright, who heard that the tax adviser sent an email from Peru to a business partner a day before he died. The coroner told the inquest: 'Mr McGarvey seemed to be, for want of a better word, giving himself quite a hard time for the quality of some of the advice he'd given to some clients in the past.' Mr McGarvey expressed similar concerns to his ex-wife, Sally, the inquest heard. Gary Lineker and Ingenious Media have been contacted for comment. For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support