Part 2: Ownership of Pensand House & Marlborough Court

The Russian Federation claim in a legal case there was money laundering, embezzlement and fraud. This is supported by evidence in a well researched book; whose two authors have never been sued. And some of the companies cited by the Russian state and the authors are shareholders of Chelsea Portfolio Ltd who own Pensand House and Marlborough Court. (PH & MC)

Valmet Nominees Ltd & Finsbury Nominees Ltd shareholders in Frasertown, who owns Chelsea Portfolio Ltd, who we spoke about in our last post about the ownership of PH & MC turns up in a court case, a very important court case involving the Russian State.

The above case has been dragging on for years, and recently the Russian Federation won a $50 billion case at the Court of Arbitration in the Hague (Holland) 

In an earlier part of this case (2011) a submission (see footnotes at page 30) mention Riggs Valmet Nominees Ltd which changed its name to Valmet Nominees Ltd and had offices in the Isle of Man and Gibraltar and is a shareholder in Frasertown Ltd who own Chelsea Portfolio Ltd.

At the time of the law suit Riggs Valmet Nominees Ltd was shown to appear in 7 tax havens and use a variety of means to transfer assets and money. It must have cost a fortune. and Riggs Valmet Nominees and/or Valmet Nominess Ltd appear no less than eight times (page 30). The word “embezzlement” and “fraud”  appear 200 times, when added together.

So it’s clear that the Russian Federation are interested in Valmet Nominees Ltd (Gibraltar) along with Finsbury Nominees Limited (Gibraltar), as are we, because these two companies are shareholders in the ownership of PH & MC.

In a 2004 book written by Alan A. Block and Constance A. Weaver titled: All is Clouded by Desire, Chapter 7 – Moving Hot Money Riggs National Bank and Valmet SA, pages 117 – 142 also mention Riggs Valmet Nominess Ltd and Valmet Nominess Ltd; which came into existence on the 18 Nov 1986. The chapter also mentions money laundering, lots of money laundering, as does the Russian Federation in their legal case.

Now we know this is not a book that any/many of the residents of PH & MC may have read. And even if any of them have read it ,it will not stop them being sent to Durham.

As we understand 16 residents as of the 10th Sept had accepted to move to Durham. However, in further twist Cllr Monk stated on Wednesday 19th Sept, at Full Council, that some assured shorthold tenancies are being given until 2019.

Now why the legal case drags on, the asset – PH & MC – should be frozen as it is not yet known who truly owns the asset. This would prevent any eviction of the tenants to far flung corners of England. 

Now the address where the companies are registered – 50 Town Range appears in the Panama Papers 26 times. This is the address where all the owners, shareholders or directors of the offshore companies based in Gibraltar who own and/or are related to PH & MC are registered. It is known that the Panama Papers revelations revealed tax evasion and criminality.

Now the shareholders in Valmet Nominees Ltd are Finsbury Limited and Valmet Executive Nominees Ltd. In our June (2018) Blog we mentioned a company call Finsbury Limited based in Gibraltar. Well prior to being called Finsbury Ltd it was called Hedon Holdings Ltd (date of name change 01/03/1991), then changed to Riggs Valmet Limited (03/10/1994), then morphed to Valmet Limited (01/04/2004) and then to Finsbury Ltd at a date unknown, but after 2004.

We know that Pensand House and Malborough Court was bought by Chelsea Portfolio Limited on the 03/12/1996, according to the land registry. They used a mortgage from Nationwide to purchase it. What was the provenance of the money which paid the deposit on the mortgage?

Are Nationwide aware that the companies behind Chelsea Portfolio Ltd are involved in a court case with the Russian Federation and where money laundering, embezzlement and fraud issues have been raised in open court and a book whose authors have not been sued? Where did the deposit come from?

That aside the owner of Chelsea Portfolio is Frasertown, Gibraltar and one of the shareholders is Valmet Nominees Ltd.  Valmet Nominees Ltd has two shareholders one of whom is Finsbury Ltd.

So for clarity ownership looks something like this.

Finsbury Ltd

(Shareholder in) 

⇓

Valmet Nominees Ltd

(Shareholder in)

⇓

Frasertown Ltd (Incorporated Feb 3, 1997) 

(Owner of)

⇓

Chelsea Portfolio Ltd (Incorporated 7 March 1996)

(company who purchased Pensand House & Malborough Ct)

Before we move on we wish to take another look at Valmet Nominees Ltd; which came into existence on the 18 Nov 1986.  Sanjay Ashok SHARMA was appointed a director of Chelsea Portfolio Ltd on the 20th March 1996. He remains a director to date. 

On the 11 Nov 1996 a mortgage charge was registered at Companies House for the purchase of PH & MC and 3 weeks later, the 03.12.1996 the title deed was became available on the Land Registry.

Frasertown Ltd – Gibraltar was incorporated on the 3 Feb 1997. According to the first Annual Return (last page) lodged at Companies House  by Chelsea Portfolio Ltd, Frasertown owned 36,000 of the companies shares, Sanjay and Benny Drylev Pedersen owned 500 each.

On the 27th Feb 1996 Valmet Nominees Ltd became a shareholder in Hightail Properties Limited, registered in the tax haven known as the Bahamas and naturally in the Panama Papers. Hightail became inactive in 2004 and struck on the 31st Dec 2005.

Now for those of you who are not aware, Bahamian banks and offshore companies have been linked to multiple cases of large-scale crime and corruption.

Two days after Sanjay became a director in Chelsea Portfolio Ltd, Valmet Nominees became a director in Southview Properties Limited on the 22nd Mar 1996. It became inactive on the 18 Nov 2005 and struck off on the 31 Dec 2006. Southview naturally appears in the Panama Papers and was registered in the Island Paradise known as the Bahamas.

6 months after Sanjay was a director of Chelsea Portfolio Limited ,Valmet Nominees Limited became a shareholder in SeaBrae Properties Limited, incorporated on 26-SEP-1996, inactive on: 16-DEC-2004, and Struck off on the 31-DEC-2005. Of course the company was registered in the Bahamas and is naturally in the Panama Papers.

So Sanjay was a director prior to the purchase of Pensand House & Marlborough Court. He was also a director when one or more of its shareholders held offshore accounts in the Bahamas. Sanjay is just a very small exotic fish in a rather large and complicated offshore structure. Claims of money laundering swirl around the shareholders – Valmet Nominees Ltd and others,who ultimately own Pensand House & Marlbrough Court?

Also Sanjay did offshore money of a dubious nature, pay the deposit for the purchase of money Pensand House & Marlbrough Court?

We have emailed him a set of questions over ten days ago asking him about the identity of the owners, allegations of money laundering, embezzlement and fraud and other questions like the ones above. Well surprise, surprise Sanjay has not got back to us. 

What was the source of the money which paid for the deposit for Pensand House and Marlborough Court? Was is laundered money?

Who is/are the true owner/s of Pensand House & Malborough Court? That is still not any clearer.

If the Russian State cannot find out even with their considerable resources, we with our very limited resources are even more severely hampered. However, we will continue to dig, as we do not want the tenants of Pensand House and Marlborough Court to be evicted, unless there is a legitimate reasons to do so.  

Folkestone & Hythe District Council have accepted monies for a planning application for PH & MC. This will be heard on Tuesday 25th Sept at 7pm by the Planning Committee in the Council Chamber.

Our public face has raised issues of  provenance for the deposit and asked about the true ownership regarding PH & MC with Dr Susan Priest – Head of Paid Service, (pictured below left) at F&HDC and Amandeep Khroud – Solicitor to the Council (pictured below right). However, they have failed to respond to any of these pertinent, justifiable and sensible concerns.

            

Finally, given the serious nature of the allegations made by the authors of All Is Clouded by Desire and the Russian Federation, was it a wise decision for the Council to take monies for the planning application  We think not, especially as the provenance of any money would need to be seriously looked at, as would the money which may have been used in the deposit for the mortgage. 

So, as we often say dear reader, we’ll leave you to decide that.

The Shepwayvox Team is NOT making any allegations of money laundering. Information which has been in the Public Domain since 1999 and allegations surrounding the “suspicion of money laundering and presumed contacts with criminal organisations”. have been raised and reported in The Guardian, and the article goes onto say “there was reason to believe that “the applicant’s assets are at least partially of illegal origin”. Mr Abramovich’s lawyer Daniel Glasl has stated: “Any suggestion that Mr Abramovich has been involved in money laundering or has contacts with criminal organisations is entirely false.”

The Shepwayvox Team Journalism for the People NOT the Powerful

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any people, companies or other entities included in this blog post have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly, unless found so by a court of law.