Panama Papers reveals former KenolKobil boss owns offshore firm

Former KenolKobil boss Jacob Segman used a proxy to secretly set up a company in the British Virgin Islands, according to documents contained in the Panama Papers.

Mr Segman, who retired as Chief Executive Officer at one of Kenya’s biggest oil marketing firms in 2013, hid behind his lawyer and used him to open a company called Energy Resource Capital Limited, headquartered in the BVI.

The company was opened in 2002, while Segman was still in office.

According to available documents, Energy Resource Capital was used to hold a portfolio of stock-traded securities belonging to an unnamed publicly listed Kenyan company. It is uncertain whether the stock options belonged to KenolKobil or not.

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“Energy Resources Capital is the owner of a portfolio of stock-traded securities of a Kenya public company, and these securities are deposited in a reputable Swiss bank. As you know, your firm is the local agent. I am personally the director of this company and my ultimate beneficial owner is my client, Mr Segman.

“I do not think that the company is engaged in trust business, the only trustee here is me. I am acting according to the instructions of Mr Segman. These are the pure facts and you are better skilled than me to see if this situation is relevant to the new law,” read an email from lawyer Rami Haviv to the compliance department of MossFon.

The documents show that the “reputable Swiss bank” mentioned in Mr Haviv’s email is in fact Credit Suisse, one of the largest wealth management institutions in the world.

Following the Panama Papers leak, Credit Suisse has distanced itself from any wrong doing.

Its CEO Tidjane Thiam told a media briefing in Switzerland: “As a bank, we only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose.”

Emails between Mr Haviv and Mossack Fonseca show that Mr Segman went to great lengths to remain unnamed in any transactions involving the company.

In an email sent in 2007 by MossFon asking for due diligence documents regarding Mr Segman, Mr Haviv instead offers to act as a director and shareholder in the company to shield his client from scrutiny.

“It looks like I am going to stay as your direct client regarding Energy Resources Capital, because Mr Segman wants to stay “behind the curtain” for personal security reasons in Kenya,” reads the email.

In June 2007, Mr Segman’s wife, Ms Dina Segman, was given powers of attorney by the lawyer. This enabled her to carry out any company business.

KenolKobil was owned by former Energy Minister and one of Kenya’s most powerful politician in the old guard, Mr Nicholas Biwott, before it was sold in 2013 to a Swiss company.