Hunter becomes the hunted. Lawyer Spencer Elms made headlines in Ann Kagure former Nairobi county Deputy Governor nominee Sh500million land forgery case in the city which she lost to Spencer Elms who was the designated custodian/ Lawyer of the late Robson. With no wife and children, Robson left the will to be executed by his lawyer Guy Spencer who was to sell and proceeds donated to environmental initiatives.
The former Nairobi deputy governor nominee had accused the lawyer of forging documents making him the property owner’s sole will executioner.
Court documents of the civil case regarding the properties showed Kagure claimed to have bought the land from the original owner, Rodger Brayn Robson, who died in 1997 at KSh 100 million. Robson owned two properties in Kenya, in Karen and another in Upper Hill Nairobi, both estimated to be valued at KSh 500 million. His wish was for his estate to be sold and proceeds donated to environmental initiatives.
How British lawyer Guy spencer aided the squandering on 21 billion meant for dam project
Unknown to Kenyans, Guy Spencer’s flower farm in Kitengela was a decade ago banned from exporting flowers to Europe and Asia after it emerged that he used the flower export business to smuggle ivory and blood gold from Congo to parts of Asia and Scandinavian countries, minting billions of shillings.
In an announcement through its social media handles, the Directorate of Criminal investigations gave out a notice summoning several people to assist in investigations’ into what could well be another scandal and surprisingly enough, the good British born lawyer featured again.
In 2017 and 2018, Guy Spenser was adversely mentioned as being the face of underworld poaching in Kenya but that was just as far as the case would go, with no successful prosecution, once again thanks to his immense influence in beating Kenya’s Criminal-justice system hands down.
In the case where he was accused of forging the will of his dead client, Mr. Elms through Daily Mail UK, accused Kenya’s justice system of ‘victimizing him in the said case and almost drew sympathy to his side, until keen Kenyans started poking holes into his narrative. The Star Media, which had also fallen for his story and published it, immediately pulled down the publication and apologized.
In the online threads on the DCI summons, details also emerged how the case was already a ‘dead case thanks to the crafty lawyer Elms and his godfathers in high places.
In a Facebook post, a former employee of Elm’s described him, “I have worked for this guy before. He is a dangerous fellow; he plays weak for sympathy for he took all the foreign and local shares of the deceased that brought conflicts with Robson family despite a court order.
He also attempted to register a sister company of Plover Haunts. This same Spencer was involved with Anglo Leasing which will never be resolved since all files went missing and he denied police access to computer and all records in our office after tampering with all electronic files together with hackers.
I fear for anyone involved with this dangerous man in a court case. He can kill anyone and run away to Britain plus he is very protected by senior police bosses and the judiciary.”
The Controversial City lawyer Guy Spencer Elms is the proverbial cat of nine lives when it comes to court cases. After getting out scot-free on the Anglo Leasing scandal even after being named in the Panama Papers.
Tax Evasion
Elms courtship with controversy however, doesn’t seem to have an halt, according to an investigative report by UK’s Money Trail investigative project, the sleek lawyer was found guilty aiding Dutch nationals in the horticulture industry to avoid paying taxes in what was feared to have cost Kenyan public and tax collector billions in unregistered dues.
Dutch growers who dominate the flower sector in Kenya were already in the news because of environmental violations and poor employment conditions. Then as investigative journalists Romy van der Burgh and Linda van der Pol found out, they were also being accused of avoiding taxation in Kenya while proudly wearing the “fair trade” badge.
A search through registrations and annual reports showed how flower companies are evading local taxes through export companies in the Netherlands and trusts located in tax havens such as the Cayman and British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein and Jersey. Others sell their revenue to sister companies in Dubai for an artificially low price, which means that profits do not fall at the Kenyan farm, but at a foreign entity where the profit tax is also much lower than in Kenya. These tax evasion were undertaken in the name of Oxymoron “Fair trade.”
Of the 32 flower companies in Kenya with atleast 13 Dutch origin were linked to tax havens. Almost all Dutch growers who went to Kenya transferred part of their business to a Dutch company. Companies that set up an international group of several companies can transfer and settle profits and losses within that group. This way they could ensure that the profit is as low as possible in the country with the highest tax rate. Because Kenya has a high profit tax, this model is attractive for companies that operate there. The Netherlands has tax treaties with many other countries. This makes it easier to channel money through the Netherlands to a tax haven than from Kenya.
An incisive investigation to one notorius flower farm company by the name Oserian owned by Zwager family, Deloitte audit report in Kenya Chamber of Commerce, Oserian’s revenue for 2013 was estimated at 2.7 million euros. Below the line, only 3,910 euros of profit remained on their own financial statements, of which Oserian paid just under 1,041 euros to the tax authorities.
The Zwager family, owner of Oserian, built a whole web of companies around the nursery that together cover the entire chain, from breeding to sales and distribution. The ultimate stakeholder in all these “Dutch” companies is Mavuno Group Holding Company Establishment, a trust in tax haven Liechtenstein, which was again managed by a trust office. No country in Europe charges as little tax as Liechtenstein, and above all, it is not open to public scrutiny.
“All tax ports come by. You don’t need so many havens to evade tax. Many large companies nowadays invest in their public image: they no longer settle in the Bahamas but in lesser known tax havens such as Ireland or Cyprus, because they still claim to levy about 15 per cent tax. I do not see that consciousness here. It would not surprise me if this company thinks: ‘The closer to zero, the better,” says Vincent Kiezebrink of the Research Foundation for Multinational Enterprises (SOMO).
A world full of crooked lawyers and accountants unfolds around. The fulcrum in this is the law firm Raffman Dhanji Elms & Virdee based in Nairobi along with other 2 law firms that helped these cartels evade tax. Spencer Elms arranges the tax planning of various Dutch nurseries himself, and he also helps farmers with agricultural land transactions. When investigators presented him with the offshore constructions, he said: “People immediately think of something bad like hearing about a trust in Liechtenstein or the British Virgin Islands, but often it is just a way of’ estate planning. Trusts are not necessarily a bad thing.”
According to the OECD, Africa misses 46 billion euros in tax revenues every year from evasive multinationals. The United Nations estimates that amount to be 92 billion euros.
The System ya Majambazi.
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