Brian Tonna restructured Adrian Hillman’s secret BVI company in parallel to Keith Schembri’s and his managing director’s

A few weeks after the Labour Party won the general election in 2013, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, took steps to conceal even further – behind nominee directors, nominee shareholders and powers of attorney held by his accountants – the secret companies in the British Virgin Islands owned by him and his managing director at Kasco Ltd, Malcolm Scerri.

He did this through the accountant Brian Tonna, who has a desk at the Office of the Prime Minister. Tonna is managing partner at Nexia BT and sole owner of BTI Management Ltd and BT International Ltd, which holds the shares in fiduciary trust for the real owners of Mossack Fonseca Malta.

Precisely in parallel to the changes made for Selson Holding Corp, owned by Kasco’s managing director, and for Colson Services Ltd, owned by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, identical changes were made to Lester Holdings Group Ltd, the company which Adrian Hillman, who was then managing director of Malta’s largest newspaper publishing group and printing press, Allied Group, had set up in the British Virgin Islands, behind the backs of his board of directors and in complete secrecy from the Maltese authorities.

Hillman had set up Lester Holdings Group Ltd on 10 May 2011. He was the sole director and sole shareholder, of a single share.

On 7th May 2013, Hillman resigned as director and appointed Jaqueline Alexander director in his stead. Alexander is an employee of Mossack Fonseca’s fiduciary services company, based in Panama, called ATC Nominees. She is used to front as a director for thousands of companies which are Mossack Fonseca’s clients.

That same day, Schembri and Scerri also resigned as directors of their companies and appointed Jaqueline Alexander in their stead.

On 7th May, too, Hillman gave instructions for the cancellation of his share certificate and its replacement with another share certificate, increasing the single share to 50,000 shares which would be held in his name by ATC Nominees. Schembri and Scerri did exactly the same thing, on the same day.

And just as they did in respect of their companies, Hillman wrote formally to Mossack Fonseca & Co (BVI) Ltd, also on 7th May, stipulating that he would indemnify them for all the bills and costs incurred in connection with Lester Holdings Group Ltd.

Then, on 5th July – exactly as with Schembri’s and Scerri’s companies – Jaqueline Alexander gave a power of attorney to Karl Cini and Brian Tonna for Lester Holding Group Ltd, effectively allowing Hillman to regain control of his company through Tonna and Cini.

As the emails below show, the concealment changes for the secret companies owned by Kasco’s managing director, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, and the Allied Newspaper Group’s managing director were actually dealt with in tandem in May 2013. All three companies had been set up together in 2011.

Keith Schembri, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, ultimate beneficial owner of secret BVI company Colson Services Ltd

Adrian Hillman, until recently managing director of Allied Group, publishers of The Sunday Times and the Times of Malta, who is the ultimate beneficial owner of secret BVI company Lester Holdings Group Ltd.

Malcolm Scerri, managing director of Kasco Ltd, which is owned by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. Scerri is the ultimate beneficial owner of the secret BVI company, Selson Holding Corporation.