A former President of the Nigerian Senate, David Mark, was not telling the truth when he denied knowledge of eight offshore companies linked to him as part of the ongoing #PanamaPapers revelations, a series of leaked documents has shown.
PREMIUM TIMES had on April 5 exposed Mr. Mark as operating shell companies in tax havenswhile being a public official in Nigeria, a violation of the country’s code of conduct law.
But shortly after the story broke, Mr. Mark denied owning any of the companies linked to him in the British Virgin Islands, a notorious tax haven, claiming this newspaper’s reporting was politically-motivated and calculated at tarnishing his image.
“We reiterate categorically that he is not directly or indirectly connected to any of the companies registered, operated or managed by the Mossack Fonseca Law Firm,” the lawmaker said through a statement by his spokesperson, Paul Mumeh.
“We challenge all those behind this propaganda and media outburst to prove or show that Senator Mark’s name was mentioned in the leaks.”
PREMIUM TIMES also found that one of the companies, Goldwin Transworld Limited is a shareholder in London-based Goldwin Services (UK) Limited, along with one Anne Folkard, a British citizen believed to be Mr. Mark’s long time associate and front.
Company documents in the U.K. show that Mr. Mark himself was a director in Goldwin Services (UK) Limited between October 3, 1994 and January 25, 1996, when he substituted himself with another shell company he had registered offshore, Goldwin Transworld Limited.
Ms. Folkard authored one of the documents in Mr. Mark’s file with Mossack Fonseca. In 2010, apparently after Mossack Fonseca became suspicion about his business dealings, Mr. Mark sent documents across to the Panamanian firm through Ms. Folkard to convince the offshore provider of secrecy to continue to serve as his registered agents in Panama and the British Virgin Islands
It is not immediately clear when Mr. Mark and Ms. Folkard met, but the letter sent to Mossack Fonseca by Ms. Folkard on behalf of the former Senate President indicated that they had been friends before 1994.
In the letter, dated October 20, 2010, Ms. Folkard wrote: “You asked if I could confirm Senator David Mark’s address in Nigeria and I am happy to do this for you.
“Please find attached a copy of his senatorial headed paper which I had printed for him when he first became a Nigerian Senator in 1999. I can confirm that the address on the left-hand side of the page, 15 Asa Road, is his constituency address where he resides in Otukpo.
“I first visited that address back in 1994 and subsequently went there for the wedding of his oldest daughter, Caroline Mark, in 2001. If required, I have photos of the actual house. The traditional wedding and reception took place in his garden.
“I have also visited him at his official residence in Abuja. It is in the residential Apo Legislative complex in Abuja which is the residential area specifically built to house the Nigerian Senators when Nigeria became a democracy. The house that he lives in there is assigned with his senatorial job and as such he does not have the traditional bills that we would normally expect householders to have.”
When contacted Tuesday, Ms. Folkard told PREMIUM TIMES she was in a meeting, and unable to comment on businesses she run for Senator Mark.
PREMIUM TIMES is the only Nigerian publication involved in the investigation, which lasted a year.
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