Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/791658
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2017 3 MATTHEW VELLA BRIAN Tonna, the managing part- ner of Nexia BT – whose firm was Mossack Fonseca's agent when it opened secret offshore compa- nies for Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri – is insisting that a third, mysterious company, 'Egrant', has not issued any bearer shares. One of the great question marks about Egrant is whether this com- pany, opened at the same time in 2013 as Mizzi's Hearnville and Schembri's Tillgate, belong to "someone more important" than the former energy minister and the PM's chief of staff – as Opposition leader Simon Busuttil put it in last week's Dissett on TVM. That suggestion refers to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. But Tonna's claims that he owns Egrant and that the company has never traded remain out of favour with critics, even MEPs who say Tonna's 1% ownership of this shelf company still hides the 99% ulti- mate beneficial owner. That means that while Tonna is the nominee shareholder, the Pan- amanian set-up allows the holder of bearer shares to take control of the other 99%. That is the real question mark. Tonna yesterday denied that Egrant had ever issued bearer shares, and said that the only is- sued share capital was only one share. "I am, and have always been, the beneficial owner of that share." Bearer shares have no named holder, which means the physical holder of the bearer share is the actual owner. This is why Egrant remains such a suspicious entity: it permits both nominee and bearer shares, with Tonna holding the 1% nominee share. A working document produced by the European Parliament's PANA committee of inquiry has highlighted how secrecy could be ensured by creating a "fog with a chain of ownership through dif- ferent jurisdictions, assigning nominee directors or nominee shareholders to an offshore com- pany, using bearer shares, nomi- nee shares or trusts among other methods". Tonna however said that his nominate share certificate comes with four standard endorsement documents, "printed as standard with every share certificate, which provide the standard format for transferring shares." He said that the endorsements are not required in the case of bearer shares, because bearer shares must be transferred to the owner by delivery. "The endorsement documents are still empty. No one, except for myself is entitled to or has any oth- er beneficial interest in the share capital of Egrant Inc." Tonna denied that Egrant had issued bearer shares, and insisted that his own 1% share had not been transferred to anyone. "I never transferred my beneficial interest." Nexia turned down an invitation last week to attend a hearing of the PANA committee of inquiry, which in Malta heard Maltese fi- nance minister Edward Scicluna and Konrad Mizzi, as well as jour- nalists, tax authorities, and the po- lice for the views on the Panama Papers and on tax and money laun- dering rules. The PM's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, also turned down the invitation, much to the consterna- tion of MEPs who were irked that Schembri was challenging their le- gal standing. Last week Tonna insisted that Egrant had not traded, and sup- plied a letter from the company's own president Ricardo Samaniego – who acts as a director on count- less shelf companies created by Mossack Fonseca and its agents – dated 16 February, 2017, reiterat- ing that Tonna was the company's owner. Samaniego, through ATC Administrators, is the nominee owner of the sole share issued by Egrant. Samaniego is himself im- plicated in various scandals related to tax avoidance on various offshore structures created by Mossack Fonseca for people such as footballing ace Lionel Messi. In written answers to the PANA committee, Tonna and Nexia partner Karl Cini reiterated that Egrant Inc. had been purchased by Nexia BT in July 2013, was a shelf company, was never active and that it had never had any client as ultimate beneficial owner. News EUR 25,000,000 4.4% UNSECURED BONDS 2024 Von der Heyden Group Finance p.l.c. (the "Issuer") announces the offering to the public of €25 million Unsecured Bonds ("Bond/s") due in 2024 at the rate of 4.4% per annum with a nominal value of €1000 per Bond issued at par. The Bonds are guaranteed by Timan Investments Holdings Limited. (Timan Investments Holdings Limited is the parent company of the Issuer). VDH Group has over 25 years of real estate development experience in Europe including Malta, Spain, United States, Poland and Germany. Since 1989 the group concluded investment programs in the real estate markets with a value of more than approx Euro 350 million. The value of investments may increase as well as decrease and past performance is not an indication of future performance. Prospective investors are urged to read the Prospectus dated the 30 th January 2017 especially the sections entitled Risk Factors and are to refer to the guarantee contained in Annex B of the Securities Note forming part of the prospectus for a description of the scope, nature and term of the guarantee. Copies of the Prospectus may be obtained free of charge during office hours from the office of Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Limited (as Sponsor) at Ewropa Business Centre, Triq Dun Karm, B'Kara. The Prospectus may also be downloaded from the following websites: Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Limited - www.cc.com.mt Von der Heyden Group Finance p.l.c - www.vdhgroup.com Subscriptions close on 3 rd March 2017, or earlier if fully subscribed. Prospective investors are urged to consult a duly authorised investment advisor for advice prior to investing in the Bonds. SPONSOR, MANAGER & REGISTRAR Von der Heyden Group Palazzo Spinola 46, St. Christopher Street Valletta, VLT1464 Malta Tel.: +356 27792200 Web: www.vdhgroup.com ISSUED BY VON DER HEYDEN GROUP. NEW BOND ISSUE 25 688 688 info@cc.com.mt CALAMATTA CUSCHIERI IS LICENSED BY THE MFSA. Nexia says Egrant did not issue bearer shares Brian Tonna insists bearer shares that hold key to Egrant's real ownership do not exist Right: The nominate share certificate of Egrant, which Brian Tonna claims has never issued bearer shares to anyone else