VERY INTERESTING
Lib Dems accused over donor link to company in offshore tax haven - Times Online
Alpha Healthcare and Alpha Aviation's ultimate parent company is Harberry Investments, which is based in Tropic Isle Building on the island of Tortola. Harberry’s turnover and tax payments remain hidden because the company is based in an offshore haven where businesses do not have to declare their accounts publicly.
Bhanu Choudhrie and his brother Dhruv are listed as shareholders in Harberry and shareholders in Alpha Aviation where they have nominee Directors Cherian Thomas and Pritam Singh, according to Companies House. They are Indian citizens and have “nondomicile” status, according to one colleague.
This means that they can, if they wish, avoid British tax on any income or gains from their overseas assets.
Bhanu Choudrie, 29, is registered as the owner of a £4.4 million (P418 Million Philippine Peso's) flat in Cadogan Square, Chelsea. The charge of the flat is registered with HSBC in Jersey, another offshore haven.
He is co-director of the mobile phone company Hybyte Solutions and Services, which was fined by the industry watchdog for sending out hundreds of unwanted text “jokes” for £1.50 each.
Dhruv Choudrie, 32, has an apartment in a private road in Kensington. In 2004 he was reported to have fallen victim to a conman’s sting when he ordered a Ferrari 360 Spyder, paying a 10 per cent deposit. He forwarded more cash and ended up losing £84,000. Both men are unmarried and were said to be in India yesterday.
This year’s donation from Alpha Healthcare and Alpha Aviation is the biggest received from a private business since the businessman Michael Brown gave £2.4 million through 5th Avenue Partners in 2005. Mr Brown, 41, is to appear in court this month in connection with an alleged multimillion-pound series of frauds and is also charged with perverting the course of justice and transferring criminal property.