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Offshore Leaks Database

Data from
Panama Papers - The Power Players
Member of British Parliament

Michael Mates

Offshore companies used for real estate development in the Caribbean

Related to

United Kingdom

About

Michael Mates is a Conservative Party politician who served in Parliament from 1974 until May 2010, when he chose not to run for re-election. He was a minister at the Northern Ireland Office from 1992-1993 but resigned after his reputation suffered from his support for failed businessman Asil Nadir, who was accused of financial wrong-doing. During the investigation, Mates sent Nadir a watch inscribed, “Don’t let the buggers get you down.” Nadir was convicted in August 2012 of stealing nearly $46 million, generating headlines just as Mates was campaigning for police commissioner in Hampshire. Mates lost the election.

In the data

Mates' parliamentary financial disclosures listed him as chairman of Haylandale Limited from April 2005 to at least April 2010, when he stepped down from his parliamentary seat for the constituency of East Hampshire. The company, created in the Bahamas in 2003 and dissolved in 2013, was established to invest in property development in the Caribbean archipelago. Michael Mates became minority shareholder of Haylandale Limited in January 2005. Additionally, Haylandale owned four subsidiary firms from August 2007 to December 2008 that provided leasing and other services connected to luxury properties in the Bahamas.

Response

Mates said the company was established to create a leisure development in Barbuda, an island that is part of the East Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda. He said a friend asked him to become chairman and that his advice had been sought on issues including how to deal with the government of Antigua, which owned the land. He said he had not and would not receive any remuneration "unless and until the development took place, nor were the shares of any value," as the company "never had any real value."
This visualization contains relevant information in relation to the profiled individual. Some additional connections might show up once we release the full structured data connected to the Paradise Papers investigation in the coming weeks.

Disclaimer

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. The inclusion of a person or entity in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database is not intended to suggest or imply that they have engaged in illegal or improper conduct. Many people and entities have the same or similar names. We suggest you confirm the identities of any individuals or entities included in the database based on addresses or other identifiable information. The data comes directly from the leaked files ICIJ has received in connection with various investigations and each dataset encompasses a defined time period specified in the database. Some information may have changed over time. Please contact us if you find an error in the database.

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