I’ve made a stab at tracking the web of companies that fall under the various Morston Investments companies. There are a number of curious facts about these companies, clues of which can be found in some of the locations and names of companies. The number after each company name is my own, to help me distinguish between the various Morstons.
I was especially curious about Morston UK. Mr Carroll does not appear anywhere on the company information for the UK firm. However, Morston UK has a Dutch subsidiary called Vantive Finance (interesting name), which in turn has an Irish subsidiary called Vantive CC (which does list Mr Carroll as a director). Why this complex structure? And who are the curious pair who direct Morston UK? (more on that later).
Another curious name to pop up relates to Morston (4). The holding companies all contain typical directorships (Carroll and Pope), bar one. That directorship in one of the subsidiaries (Zoe OptionGrantco) is one Ms Natalia Romanova, according to company information, who is based in Dublin.
Thoughts anyone?
Great journalism Gavin, very informative
A complex corporate structure reflects a few facts and is not by itself in anyway suspicious.
His business was very large and it is entirely normal to incorporate new companies to undertake, say, a new development. Or a company could be incorporated to effect a property transfer by way of a corporate transaction (selling the company that owns the land rather than selling the land itself).
Unlimited companies and companies in other jurisdictions are always going to offer tax and/or confidentiality benefits which would be exploited by advisers who are well paid to do so.
To be honest, given the nature and scale of his business interests, the corporate structure you outline so ably isn’t particularly complex.
Re the “curious” directorships. For one thing, most jurisdictions require at least one director to be a resident of the country in question. It is likely that the directors of the UK entity are tax or legal professionals. As for Ms. Romanova’s directorship. From the name of that company it appears to be a Special Purpose Vehicle to reduce taxation liability in the transfer of property by way of a corporate transfer as such has no life other than this purpose and it really would make no difference if its director was kermit the frog.
That pretty much sums up my own thinking Andrew. I am simply trying to understand a web that for very long has been only referred to but never detailed.
Some directorships and shareholdings are curious… that’s not to say there are out of this world, or abnormal. Just curious. 🙂
And indeed I have seen yet more complex structures with other companies, but more on that later.
Hey Gavin, the Carroll case may be the tip of the iceberg. If you’re feeling energetic the Fleming Construction companies (which are also currently going through the courts I think) may be worth having a look at. No doubt a similar web of interconnections.