Top U.K. political donors and a Scottish football star were among more than 500 secret shareholders of an offshore firm behind an elite golf club in Scotland identified by investigative journalism outlet The Ferret in leaked Paradise Papers documents.
By Sam Ellefson
Details about the ownership of the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club were not previously known as the club is owned and operated by a firm incorporated in the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory and a secrecy jurisdiction.
ICIJ’s 2017 Paradise Papers investigation was based on 13.4 million leaked files from a slew of offshore financial service providers, obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Ferret’s new reporting reveals that, as of 2014, the ownership of Loch Lomond Golf Club Limited included politicians, business executives, bankers and sports players.
The Ferret noted there was no indication of tax abuse by the company that owns the golf club, which is less than an hour’s drive from Glasgow, its shareholders or the club’s members. However, The Ferret found the club had run up losses — and therefore avoided corporate tax liability — in most of the years since the buyout.
Few of the shareholders named in the documents responded to The Ferret’s requests for comment. The golf club management and the U.K. government did not respond either. Ferret reporter Jamie Mann told ICIJ he was unable to verify whether all of the shareholders identified retained shares due to secrecy provisions in the Cayman Islands
