Nexia boss denies claims he used BVI company to buy £17m London house

Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna says claims by Daphne Caruana Galizia that he used a BVI company to acquire a £17 million London property are a ‘blatant fabrication’

Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna
Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna

Claims by Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia that Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna used an offshore company to purchase a £17 million London property, have been denied as a “complete and blatant fabrication”.

Caruana Galizia posted an article on her blog, alleging Tonna used his offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, Willerby Trade Inc, to buy the property in London through an initial £5 million deposit and the rest of the £12 million in instalments.

“I have never acquired, directly or indirectly, any immovable property in London,” Tonna said in a brief statement sent to the press. 

In a reply, Caruana Galizia challenged Tonna to publish the “full and undoctored statements for Willerby Trade Inc.’s account at Pilatus Bank”, a bank that opened in Malta after 2013. “You are the ultimate beneficial owner of that British Virgin Islands company, with your identity hidden behind Mossack Fonseca nominees,” she added. 

Tonna’s Nexia BT managed the offshore dealings of minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri with Mossack Fonseca, creating their offshore companies in Panama and related trusts in New Zealand.

In an email copied to the press, Tonna said he received an email from Caruana Galizia seeking a reaction to her allegations “at 9.50am this morning”.

In a continuation of the exchange copied to the press, Tonna reiterated his denial that he had acquired the property dirctly or indirectly through Willerby. “It is up to you to prove otherwise, such as by producing a contract of acquisition by Willerby.”

Tonna said he had never denied owning Willerby Trade but said he denied assertions made by Caruana Galizia that the company was set up for money laundering purposes and to conceal profits from the authorities. “I further deny ever having used any faked documents or doctored PDFs,” he added.

Last week, Caruana Galizia also claimed she had information as to who owned the mysterious Panama offshore company Egrant, opened as a shelf company by Nexia BT at the same as Mizzi’s and Schmebri’s Hearnville and Tillgate offshore companies were opened. The information was revealed in the massive Panama Papers leak of 2016.