Panama Papers show man accused of grabbing Kajiado land ran offshore firms
What you need to know:
The official banker for Avon Development Ltd was CFC Stanbic Bank, which wrote to Mossack Fonseca vouching for Avon’s good credit record.
The letter was signed by Mr Lee Gachomba and Mr Patrick Ngure, both relationship managers at the bank.
A Danish national, who has in the past been accused of land grabbing in Kajiado County, is among people who opened and operated offshore companies in a notorious tax haven.
Documents leaked from the ongoing Panama Papers investigation show that Mr Peter Bonde Nielsen ran Avon Developments Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
He was a director and shareholder of the company, alongside a Mr Mahendra Bakhda, a United Kingdom citizen.
The physical address of Avon Development was registered as Titan Hangar at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
The documents show that Mr Nielsen may have used the permissive system in the BVI to form several layers of companies, whose true functions remain undisclosed.
At the heart of the matter is Titan Worldwide Limited, which Mr Nielsen bought through Mossack Fonseca (MF) in 2006.
Before he came into the picture, Titan shares were held by two other companies: Europlan Trust and Leysian Trustees.
When Mr Nielsen took over at Titan, the shares Europlan and Leysian held were transferred to his Avon Development in 2007.
Their lawyer, however, requested that the share certificates naming Mr Nielsen and Avon as shareholders of Titan be backdated to May 2006.
There was a lot of pressure on MF from Mr Nielsen’s lawyers, asking for the speedy transfer of Titan share certificates to Avon.
“I should be grateful if you would now expedite this matter, as we have a pressing commercial issue to resolve, which is awaiting issue of Titan Worldwide shares. Please, can we try to finalise this matter by the end of the week,” wrote Mr Michael Ludlow, an employee of Avon Development, in 2007.
The said commercial activity was, however, never disclosed.
The official banker for Avon Development Ltd was CFC Stanbic Bank, which wrote to Mossack Fonseca vouching for Avon’s good credit record.
The letter was signed by Mr Lee Gachomba and Mr Patrick Ngure, both relationship managers at the bank.
Titan Worldwide was not used to trade, but instead, served as a holding company for other Mr Nielsen companies owned.
According to an email sent by Titan chief financial officer Simmi Thaker to Mossack Fonseca in October 2011, Titan serves as a holding company for Titan Air Ltd, Titan Avionics and Titan Developments Ltd.
According to its website, Titan Avionics is a supplier of military equipment. It is also a supplier of Garmin, a Global Position System installed in cars to help with navigation.
Finally, in 2014, the management of Avon was transferred from Mossack Fonseca to a company called Harneys, and the trail went cold.
