boris johnsoncontroversial holiday in Spain Today came under new scrutiny when it emerged that the luxury £25,000-a-week property on the Costa del Sol where she is staying has been linked to a line of tax avoidance.
The PM is vacationing with his wife Carrie and young son Wilfred at Tori Zack Goldsmith’s opulent villa, where he relaxes by painting in the hills above Marbella in southern Spain.
He had already faced criticism for besieging Britons amid the crisis of fuel and empty supermarket shelves.
But today the visit came into renewed focus when it emerged that the property has been featured in the so-called ‘.Pandora Letter‘.
It is the name given to the infamous long-running leak of nearly 12 million documents that revealed hidden wealth, tax avoidance and even money laundering by some of the world’s rich and powerful.
Documents reveal assets are held by ‘an opaque offshore structure based in multiple tax havens’, say Guardian.
This structure explicitly includes assets owned by a Maltese company which in turn is held by companies in the Turks and Caicos Islands and administered by a wealth planning firm based in Switzerland.
Boris Johnson is vacationing with his wife Carrie and young son Wilfred at partner Tori Zack Goldsmith’s lavish villa (pictured above), where he relaxes by painting in the hills above Marbella in southern Spain
The Prime Minister as pictured with former MP and Lord of the House, Zack Goldsmith in September 2019. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Goldsmith, who was promoted to Lord’s by Johnson.
Mr Goldsmith, a former MP and now a member of the House of Lords, declined to discuss the details of the arrangement, but the newspaper calls the fact that the PM’s holiday was organized through a series of companies ‘at a property’ Is performed. Their commitment to reforms designed to bring transparency to offshore asset ownership in the UK will probably be questioned.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Goldsmith, who was promoted to Lord’s by Johnson, but the paper notes that the documents he has seen ‘raise questions about whether Goldsmith had valuables. and are income generating assets.
The arrival of the prime minister and his family to Andalusia over the weekend has prompted comments in the Spanish media about their decision to go on holiday, while Britain is gripped by a fuel and food shopping crisis.
Spain’s Canal 3 TV station reported the British Prime Minister’s absence from the country estate this morning.
While Mr Johnson insists he is working to solve Britain’s burgeoning problems, he has been seen walking along the roof of the luxury property, painting alongside his hands.
Before Carey moved to number 10, it was revealed that Mr and Mrs Johnson relax after spending their evening painting together, with pieces of them hanging on the walls of their flat in south London.
Pool at Villa in Marbella on the Costa del Sol. Documents reveal assets are held by ‘an opaque offshore structure based in multiple tax havens’
An outdoor seating area on the property in Marbella. Amid Britain’s continuing fuel and energy crisis, the premier has faced criticism over the timing of his foreign travel
A living area inside the property. Mr Goldsmith, a former MP and now a member of the House of Lords, declined to discuss the details of the arrangement.
The PM had shielded from the 30 degree sun during the day, but he came out as soon as the temperature dropped.
The premier has faced criticism over the timing of his foreign visit amid Britain’s continuing fuel and energy crisis, along with the publication of a scathing report that laid bare a string of failure ministers made to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Gave.
But No 10 and government figures have defended their right to take leave this week, with Security Minister Damien Hinds saying it is ‘important for the whole country’ that its political leader has time to switch off.
According to his spokesperson, he has also been seen working on his laptop in between the sabbatical period and he is being regularly updated on the ongoing work to resolve the current issues of fuel and supply chain.
The Pandora Papers named more than 100 billionaires, 29,000 offshore accounts, 30 current and former leaders – including Tony and Cheri Blair and the wife of Sir Philip Green – earlier this month.
The estate is a short drive from the picturesque village of Benavis, and has its own helipad to ensure that VIP holidaymakers can come and go without being seen.
Kerry Johnson pictured with Mr Goldsmith (left, right with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, out of campaigning in 2017)
Number 10 and government figures have defended their right to take leave this week, with Damien Hinds saying it is ‘important for the whole country’ that its political leader has time to switch off. Pictured: Boris and Carey last took a family break with Wilfred in Scotland last year
It was revealed that Tony and Cherie Blair had avoided paying £312,000 in stamp duty when they bought the £6.45million London office.
Blairs denied any wrongdoing as it was said that he was able to save more than £300,000 in stamp duty when he acquired the property by buying the offshore company that owned it.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the couple said they had purchased the property “in the usual manner through reputable agents” and should not have been dragged into a story about “hidden secrets of prime ministers etc.”
It also emerged that Sir Philip Green’s wife Tina had purchased four properties in London using an offshore company when BHS collapsed in 2016, including a £15 million apartment in Mayfair.
Through their lawyers, both Sir Philip and Lady Greene declined to answer the BBC’s detailed questions about the division of the property, suggesting that these were private matters.
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