.png)
1 day ago
23
Ewan McKay is simply a quiet, trusting antheral with a lifelong passionateness for golf. Growing up successful the 1950s successful Angus, a windswept region connected Scotland’s eastbound coast, helium recovered the athletics a cleanable outlet: a shared enactment that reduced the pressures of socialising. Later, arsenic an adult, golfing allowed him to hitch shoulders with affluent farmers who became utile contacts for his expanding business, selling Scottish effect potatoes to English farms. Once helium sold that business, McKay had capable wealth to travel his dreams and make a people of his own.
In 2002, McKay bought a crippled of onshore successful St Andrews and secured readying support for a play people and backstage members’ club. But 2 years later, helium received an connection of £20m to bargain the land. “It was the benignant of sum you couldn’t crook down,” helium recalled. He made a nett of £13m from the sale, and portion helium was golfing down successful Kent successful 2004, a person suggested helium ought to conscionable a solicitor called Stephen David Jones, who was a maestro astatine whittling down taxation bills. “He said, ‘What are you doing astir tax?’” McKay told me. “And I said, I wasn’t reasoning astir tax. I conscionable wage it. And helium said: ‘I tin present you to idiosyncratic brilliant.’”
When McKay spoke to Jones, the lawyer suggested that helium enactment his wealth into a spot connected the Caribbean land of Nevis. Jones’s instrumentality steadfast would enactment arsenic the trustee and McKay’s children would beryllium registered arsenic the beneficiaries. This, Jones explained, was the smartest mode of arranging his taxation affairs.
McKay did his owed diligence connected Jones, inviting him up to Dundee to conscionable lawyers helium knew. “Every azygous 1 of them thought helium was plausible, charming and evidently highly good known successful respect of tax,” helium told me. Jones seemed the epitome of an urbane, chivalrous Englishman. He work the Financial Times, sent his lad to Eton and was seldom seen not wearing a waistcoat. He lived successful a reddish Victorian mansion artifact successful Little Venice, a premier country of westbound London. After gathering Jones, 1 of McKay’s lawyer friends said, “You’ve got yourself a cracker here.”
In January 2006, Jones’s instrumentality firm, Jirehouse, registered the Scotia Trust Foundation successful Nevis. Since Jirehouse was its sole trustee, lone Jones and his colleagues had nonstop entree to accusation astir the assets it held for McKay’s family. Jirehouse created 3 further Scotia entities successful Nevis. And, arsenic Jirehouse was a director, secretary, spouse oregon trustee successful each 4 of the Scotia entities, Jones could motion paperwork connected Scotia’s behalf without consulting McKay.
Jones assured McKay that the complexity of the Scotia web was a motion of its sophistication. “He kept saying, ‘Don’t worry, everything is going great,’” McKay recalled. After McKay bought a caller location successful Angus with an adjoining shooting estate, Jones suggested that 1 of the Scotia entities should beryllium listed arsenic the owner, explaining this would beryllium much “tax efficient”. Jones was often vague astir the structures helium acceptable up connected McKay’s behalf, but McKay assumed that this vagueness was a mode of insulating him from the prying eyes of taxation inspectors.
Jones was affable and loquacious, and McKay started to deliberation of him arsenic a friend. He invited Jones to shooting parties astatine his location and astatine different section estate, Fettercairn, and Jones and his woman attended the wedding of McKay’s daughter. Jones often told McKay astir assorted spot deals helium was progressive with – an ocean-front improvement successful Nevis, a swanky edifice successful Iceland – and soon, Jones started to instrumentality his ain backstage shooting parties to Fettercairn. McKay sensed that though Jones seemed to beryllium from an affluent background, helium enjoyed being astir radical who were richer than helium was, arsenic if pretending that their wealth was his own. Once, McKay received a measure from Fettercairn for a sprout that Jones had hosted. The property manager said that Jones had charged the enactment to Scotia’s account. When McKay confronted Jones astir this, helium said it was an error.
In 2010, McKay repurchased the crippled of onshore successful St Andrews. His program was to yet commencement gathering the backstage members’ nine and play course. The Feddinch Club would people precocious nett worthy foreigners, and rank would beryllium by invitation only. The terms for joining arsenic 1 of the club’s laminitis members was £250,000. Michael Bowes-Lyon, a archetypal relative erstwhile removed of Queen Elizabeth II, agreed to go the club’s honorary president, and a glossy brochure advertised its proximity to an airstrip for backstage jets.
From the outset, Jones was anxious to assist. He suggested that Jirehouse go a spouse successful the Feddinch Club, and arranged for McKay to alert to New York and conscionable immoderate investors and an architect. McKay had ne'er worked connected a task of this standard before, and was keen to unafraid financing, truthful helium brought Jirehouse connected committee arsenic a partner. “My dad’s his ain worst enemy,” said McKay’s son, Bruce. “If helium meets idiosyncratic who appears successful, he’ll instrumentality their advice.”
In aboriginal 2013, McKay decided to determination person to St Andrews to beryllium nearer to the play course. He recovered a bungalow with a wide presumption of the tract and the oversea beyond. On Jones’s instructions, Scotia would beryllium listed connected the deeds for McKay’s caller home, conscionable arsenic it had been for his location successful Angus. Shortly earlier the acquisition went through, however, Jones told McKay determination had been a alteration of plan. Instead of Scotia’s sanction appearing connected the spot deeds, Jones and different Jirehouse workfellow would beryllium listed arsenic the property’s owners. McKay panicked erstwhile helium heard this, but Jones reassured him. Jirehouse would beryllium holding the location connected spot for him and his family, helium said, truthful it would inactive technically beryllium to them. McKay continued to worry. He couldn’t shingle the feeling that it wasn’t him who owned his caller location – it was Jones.
Jirehouse’s offices occupied 2 townhouses connected John Street, a abbreviated locomotion from the British Museum. The five-storey gathering had an olive greenish beforehand door, a chromatic portico and achromatic metallic railings. The steadfast gave the content of a backstage bureau that dealt with aged money. Its gathering rooms were wood-panelled, its letters to clients were printed connected creamy Conqueror paper, and its concern cards were embossed with a curling overgarment of arms. Jones had antecedently worked astatine 2 magic ellipse firms, Freshfields and Slaughter and May, and Jirehouse’s elder squad included solicitors with likewise elite backgrounds. “I was benignant of successful awe of the place,” said 1 erstwhile employee, James (not his existent name). “If you hadn’t travel into interaction with that satellite before, it could beryllium intimidating.”
Of the 30 radical I spoke to astir Jones – erstwhile clients, concern associates, employees, schoolfriends and neighbours – 1 statement kept cropping up: “English gentleman.” The steadfast helium had built recalled a clip erstwhile the City was tally connected handshakes betwixt men successful bowler hats who dined astatine clubs successful St James’s. (Jones himself was a subordinate of the Carlton Club, wherever the Conservative enactment was founded.) “It’s aged values. And aged values astir apt connected the ground of which the City of London was built,” helium told the Telegraph Business Club, a media transmission that created a short advertorial video astir Jirehouse.
Towards his staff, Jones behaved with the generosity of a Victorian patron. Jirehouse sponsored unit visas and paid for instrumentality schoolhouse grooming for immoderate paralegals. One of Jones’s closest associates, Zuleyha Tohtayeva, began arsenic a barista whom Jones recruited from a adjacent subdivision of Starbucks. Tohtayeva, who was from Turkmenistan, had scant ineligible acquisition erstwhile she joined the steadfast arsenic a caput successful 2008, but she rapidly roseate done the ranks, becoming a paralegal and past a elder associate. “He enjoyed ‘rescuing’ people,” James told me.
This benevolence stemmed from Jones’s Christian faith, which shaped the steadfast itself. He attended All Souls Church successful Langham Place, and aboriginal joined the congregation astatine Holy Trinity Brompton, a affluent evangelical religion successful Knightsbridge. “HTB”, arsenic the religion is known, is wherever the Alpha Course, an evangelistic programme aimed astatine sceptics, was archetypal invented. The hedge money manager Paul Marshall, who founded GB News, sits connected its outreach board.
At work, Jones sometimes signed disconnected emails with “Much emotion successful Christ, Stephen”, oregon “Blessings, Stephen”. He would occasionally work a transition from the Bible astatine the Monday greeting unit meeting, and helium was peculiarly fond of Hebrew references. A mezuzah was affixed to Jirehouse’s doorway, though Jones was not Jewish, and ineligible documents would sometimes beryllium stapled with a tiny insubstantial triangle printed with “Isaiah 62: 6-7”, a notation to an Old Testament verse successful which watchmen, posted connected the walls of Jerusalem, support an oculus implicit God’s kingdom. “He truly felt what helium was doing, that determination was immoderate benignant of higher calling,” said different erstwhile employee, Sarah (not her existent name).
Looking backmost now, aft the information astir Jones’s transgressions person travel to light, it is hard not to hunt for clues. If his piety was sincere, the effort helium enactment into cultivating his gentlemanly representation suggested an underlying insecurity. In the Telegraph video, his dependable sometimes slips from received pronunciation into thing little plummy. Former Jirehouse unit I interviewed couldn’t archer maine thing astir Jones’s inheritance but that helium had worked astatine magic ellipse firms. “At the time, I conscionable perceived him to beryllium precise posh. And it’s weird saying that … due to the fact that I’m not definite I’d deliberation that immoderate more. I’d deliberation of him much arsenic a blank now,” said James. The lack of different details astir his beingness earlier Jirehouse was striking. Where did helium travel from? Who was he, really? Last autumn, I contacted his brother, Tim, asking to talk.
“Perhaps we should meet,” Tim wrote back. “It’s a agelong achy communicative … the roots of my brother’s downfall started galore years ago.”
On a windy autumn day, I met Tim Jones astatine the barroom of the St Pancras edifice successful King’s Cross, London. Tim is an infrastructure advisor whose demeanour flits betwixt easy-going humour and pained introspection. He knew Jones not arsenic “Stephen David”, but arsenic “Steve”, and implicit the pursuing months, we had a bid of agelong and occasionally achy conversations successful which Tim seemed to find a benignant of catharsis. “It says successful the Bible that the information volition acceptable you free,” helium told me. “Maybe this is portion of my ain roadworthy to freedom.”
From an aboriginal age, Stephen possessed a singular charm, a assurance that bordered connected hubris, and a endowment for identifying radical richer than himself. “He would marque you consciousness arsenic though you were the lone idiosyncratic successful the room,” said Tim. “He’d inquire you questions astir you. He ne'er drew a two-way conversation. He would ever flip it backmost to you.” Tim was the eldest of 5 children; Stephen was calved 19 months aft him, successful September 1959. Their begetter was a chartered surveyor and their parent worked arsenic a aesculapian secretary. Tim, Stephen, their 2 younger brothers and their sister grew up successful Luton, a predominantly working-class municipality northbound of London. Their household didn’t person overmuch money, but neither did astir radical successful their neighbourhood. Their parents emphasised honesty, hard enactment and devotion to God.
The Jones household worshipped astatine a religion connected a assembly property that belonged to the Open Brethren, a blimpish strand of evangelical Christianity. The docket was intense. Saturday was devoted to Bible survey and Sunday was for religion service. There was a supplication gathering connected Monday evening and a Bible speechmaking connected Wednesday, and successful their escaped clip radical were expected to spell “tracting” – knocking connected doors and pushing slivers of insubstantial done letterboxes to dispersed the connection of Jesus Christ. “It was continual,” said Tim. “You seldom got clip to yourself.”
At the Brethren church, Stephen befriended a antheral called Godfrey Henderson, who lived successful a Victorian location a stone’s propulsion from the Joneses. His location was cosy and cluttered: the Aga stacked with pans, the shelves lined with bottled fruit. Henderson was a advisor anaesthetist successful the NHS, and Tim sensed that helium gave Stephen a presumption into a beingness that was larger and much worldly than his own. Henderson often travelled overseas for missionary and country work, subscribed to Reader’s Digest and National Geographic, and would instrumentality thumbed copies of the Guardian to work astatine the theatre during intervals. The 2 would chat astir Henderson’s missionary work. Sometimes, Stephen tended to the location portion helium was abroad. “And it benignant of elevated Steve,” Tim recalled.
The Jones children studied astatine section broad schools, and Stephen was the archetypal successful his household to spell to university. He enrolled astatine the University of Reading to work instrumentality successful 1979, and aft graduating helium joined Freshfields, a prestigious instrumentality steadfast successful London. Stephen had ever been academically gifted, and his parents sometimes seemed successful awe of him. “It was ever Tim who would get punished, and Stephen would get distant with it,” recalled a adjacent household friend. “Stephen could bash nary wrong.”
Once he’d started moving successful the city, Stephen would bring exotic cheeses and champagne to household gatherings. When his parents visited London, Jones enactment them up successful five-star hotels. During 1 of our conversations, Tim mentioned the communicative of Jacob and Esau, duplicate brothers successful the Book of Genesis. Jacob tricks their unsighted father, Isaac, into giving him the birthright blessing that was intended for Esau, the archetypal born, causing a lifelong rift betwixt them. “Steve ever said helium should person been calved the archetypal son,” Tim said. Stephen erstwhile incorporated a company with a lawsuit called Prodigal Son Ltd.
In 1992, Stephen moved to Slaughter and May successful Hong Kong. He discontinue the steadfast conscionable 2 years later, having a situation of religion astir his vocation path. After taking a people astatine a schoolhouse for missionaries, helium spent six months travelling. “Whilst successful Armenia I felt determination was a request to bring to 3rd satellite countries […] God’s principles of moving an economy,” Jones wrote successful a newsletter helium sent to his friends and household successful December 1995. “I fearfulness successful the westbound we person overmuch to larn connected this relationship and overmuch to unlearn.”
His experiences overseas convinced Jones to prosecute a antithetic vocation path, truthful helium acceptable up a trading cognition shipping walnuts and java from India to Armenia. He described his ambitions, somewhat grandly, arsenic “establishing bilateral commercialized betwixt the Christians successful these countries”. He named the institution Jirehouse, aft the Hebrew connection for God’s provision, Jireh, and a notation to the location of God. But contempt Jones’s efforts, it didn’t instrumentality off. By 2003, the missionary that Jones had recruited to assistance tally the concern had left.
Jones past pivoted to a much acquainted tract from his clip successful the City: taxation law. Jirehouse recruited a Jersey-based director, and successful 2004 the steadfast opened an bureau connected Nevis, a jurisdiction that allows radical to sequester wealthiness with greater secrecy than conscionable astir anyplace other successful the world. Among taxation lawyers, the land has a seamy reputation. Two KCs I spoke to told maine they made a constituent of not dealing with businesses registered there, owing to its estimation for taxation evasion. To Jones, though, the secrecy of the land was cardinal to its appeal.
Soon aft Jirehouse opened its bureau successful Nevis, Jones acquired astir 3 hectares of onshore connected Herbert’s Beach, a premier portion of Atlantic waterfront, and utilized his section contacts to wrangle a licence that would let him to physique a vacation resort. He convinced Tim to put a full of £500,000 successful this project, which would beryllium called Ocean Reef Resorts.
When Tim flew retired to Nevis successful July 2006, 2 things struck him. First, the island’s tropical beauty, and second, the corruptibly adjacent narration betwixt lawmakers and businessmen. “These are radical that bash not judge they relation wrong the law,” Tim told me. To them, “the instrumentality is determination to beryllium played with, to beryllium challenged, to beryllium got round, to beryllium manipulated”.
In 2005, Jones was introduced to a brash spot developer called Scot Young. His residences included a ample villa successful a luxurious Miami suburb, a rectory location successful Oxfordshire, a location adjacent Regent’s Park and an flat successful Knightsbridge. He socialised with Russian concern radical successful London, including Boris Berezovsky and his concern spouse Ruslan Fomichev, a spot developer. “Back then, London was affable to foreigners,” Vasily Peganov, Fomichev’s concern partner, told me. “They respected the money.”
In February 2005, Fomichev invited Young to put successful a spot woody to redevelop onshore successful the centre of Moscow. “I knew, astatine the time, that I did not person this magnitude of wealth and would request to bring successful different investors,” Young aboriginal recalled. Beneath a veneer of boundless wealth, helium was financially stretched. Young owed the Bank of Scotland conscionable implicit £25m and his creditors were opening to circle. After 1 of the investors successful the Moscow woody issued a freezing bid against Young for £2.35m, and the Bank of Scotland called successful immoderate of its loans, helium declared insolvency.
Jones agreed to measurement successful and cleanable up the messiness that Young had created. It was a immense accidental to burnish his credentials with a radical of precise affluent businessmen, and helium helped devise a program whereby a caller institution bought retired the investors whom Young had recruited. His solution earned Jones the respect of Fomichev and his concern partner, Peganov. Both men were inactive caller arrivals successful London, and Jones rapidly assumed the relation of well-connected fixer. He introduced Fomichev and Peganov to backstage bankers. He acceptable up spot structures to negociate their wealth. He advised them connected their taxation affairs. “We trusted him,” Peganov recalled. “We became friends.”
Jones grew much comfy asking his caller clients for favours. In 2011, helium approached Fomichev for a loan, promising him a monthly involvement complaint that was higher than helium would get astatine a bank. Jones explained that the indebtedness would supply backing for his clients’ projects – McKay’s play course, a edifice successful Iceland owned by different lawsuit – and that it would beryllium secured against these assets. Over time, Jones borrowed much and much wealth from Fomichev, ever explaining that the loans were intended for lawsuit projects. Fomichev saw nary crushed to disbelieve him, and Jones was ne'er precocious successful paying the interest. During this time, Jones was expanding his operation, opening outposts successful Switzerland, Cyprus and Luxembourg.
Increasingly, Jones was behaving much similar a fiscal matchmaker than a lawyer, encouraging his clients to put successful 1 another’s projects, and sometimes investing successful them himself. In 2013, helium told Ewan McKay that helium had recovered a Swiss gem trader who wanted to put €6m successful his play people task successful St Andrews. The businessmen who had brokered the woody wanted £125,000 commission, and some the committee and the €6m would beryllium paid successful cash. Bruce McKay, Ewan’s son, thought it unusual that the gem trader wanted to wage successful cash, and adjacent alien that Jones insisted that Bruce retreat the £125,000 committee from a wealth transportation store successful Streatham, southbound London, alternatively than a bank. “The excuse was, it volition get held up successful the bank, and drafting that magnitude of currency from 1 relationship would rise question marks,” Bruce told me. When helium went to the wealth transportation shop, helium recovered a “guy was bundling the wealth into 25k bundles, and putting them into what looked to maine similar the bags to prime up my canine turds”.
After helium collected the money, Bruce and his begetter drove overnight from London to Milan, wherever they picked Jones up from the airdrome the adjacent morning. Their gathering with the gem trader was owed to instrumentality spot astatine the Grand Visconti Palace hotel, and Jones had brought a container containing a alteration of apparel and a wealth counter. Bruce had transferred the £125,000 into a briefcase. The 3 men pulled into the hotel’s underground car parkland and took the assistance to the lobby.
When they arrived, Bruce sensed that thing wasn’t right. An S-Class Mercedes was parked extracurricular the building’s entrance. Inside the lobby, 2 men successful shiny, ill-fitting suits were waiting for them. The 2 men greeted Jones, snatched his container disconnected his shoulder, flung a ample sports container astatine the lawyer, and rushed retired of the lobby and into the car, which sped off. It took a infinitesimal for Bruce to realise what had happened. “It was 1 of those ‘Are you shitting me?’ moments,” helium recalled. “And I was like, ‘Dad, this is simply a fucking heist.’”
The 2 thieves had taken Jones’s container successful the content that it contained £125,000. Thankfully, Ewan was inactive clutching the briefcase that contained the money, but erstwhile the thieves discovered they had stolen a container that contained thing much than a wealth antagonistic and immoderate spare clothes, Bruce figured they’d beryllium back. Panicking, helium rushed his begetter and Jones down to the car park. Ewan opened the sports container erstwhile they were successful the Range Rover. “Immediately I realised it was afloat of forged notes,” helium recalled.
Bruce drove them arsenic accelerated arsenic helium could towards the Swiss border, heading for Jirehouse’s bureau successful Lausanne. Jones was sitting successful the mediate spot successful the back, and seemed visibly distressed. “He was squealing similar a girl,” Bruce said. “He kept saying, they’d spent truthful agelong going implicit the contract, backmost and forth, backmost and forth, and wherefore would you walk truthful overmuch clip connected a declaration that was meaningless?”
Once they arrived astatine the Lausanne office, Jones tried to enactment Ewan and Bruce’s minds astatine ease. But the narration was irrevocably damaged. “I said, Bruce, we’ve made a hellhole of a mistake. This feline doesn’t cognize what he’s doing,” Ewan recalled. The Milan fiasco had revealed 2 large flaws successful the man lawyer. He was consenting to get progressive with disreputable characters, and helium was wholly naive astir the risks of doing so.
Yet it turned retired to beryllium highly hard for McKay to disentangle himself from Jones. “He held the purse strings for everything,” Bruce told me. “He was God.” When McKay was diagnosed with lung and prostate crab the pursuing year, it became ever harder for him to support way of the analyzable web of companies that Jones had created for his family. Bruce visited Jones portion his begetter was recovering from chemotherapy, and the lawyer seemed benignant and understanding. “He said, don’t worry, we’re your pals, let’s conscionable ore connected your dad’s health,” Bruce told me. “And there’s ever a tiny spot of you that hopes your gut feeling is wrong.”
Some of Jones’s associates made his unit nervous. More than erstwhile portion reporting this piece, I was told that I ought to beryllium “careful”, the accusation being that not everyone who Jones had worked with respected the law. Almost everyone mentioned Scot Young, who fell from a fourth-floor flat successful Marylebone successful 2014 and was impaled connected the railings below. It was imaginable that his decease was a suicide, but his household suspected thing much nefarious. According to a BuzzFeed investigation, Young had go truthful disquieted astir being assassinated successful the months earlier his decease that helium sought extortion from a transgression gang. Four of his associates, including the oligarch Boris Berezovsky, had precocious died successful likewise mysterious circumstances.
Even so, the Metropolitan constabulary declared Young’s decease unsuspicious. A coroner aboriginal recovered that his decease could not beryllium ruled a suicide, but since the constabulary person ne'er reopened the case, the nonstop origin of decease remains a root of speculation and conspiracy. Michelle Young, Scot’s ex-wife, who filed for divorcement successful 2007, insisted to maine that Scot’s fiscal meltdown was a ruse devised by Jones to obscure Young’s fiscal assets, and frankincense deprive her of a just divorcement settlement. In March 2006, Scot had fixed powerfulness of lawyer to Jones, allowing him control of his concern interests successful the Moscow spot deal, which Jones past shifted to Nevis. One theory, suggested to maine by Michelle, is that Jones made disconnected with these assets. Another anticipation is that the assets were ne'er arsenic invaluable arsenic Scot made out. (“Young had been moving bare for years,” Fomichev told me. “He was buying properties, mortgaging them instantly to bargain different property. It was similar a large paper game.”)
What is definite is that, similar Scot Young, Jones was pretending to beryllium thing helium wasn’t, socialising with radical richer than himself, and projecting an aura of occurrence that was untethered from reality. Gradually, Jirehouse’s bureau began to symbolise the gulf betwixt Jones’s self-image and the dissolution that laic beneath. On the outside, it was expansive and beauteous but successful the basement, the room was sometimes populated with slugs, and unit would instrumentality turns connected “dishcloth duty”, since the cleaner lone visited erstwhile a week. Sarah, the erstwhile Jirehouse employee, told maine that the rent would often beryllium paid late, and that Jones would sometimes situation the landlord implicit spurious issues, specified arsenic the authorities of the plot oregon close to light.
Jones was besides getting into superior debt. He had racked up a ample measure with the instrumentality steadfast Mishcon de Reya, pursuing an unsuccessful tribunal lawsuit helium pursued against Young’s erstwhile lawyer, and had resorted to borrowing fractional a cardinal pounds from Fomichev to settee his bill. He was besides struggling to get the Nevis improvement disconnected the ground. His brother, Tim, had been trying since 2008 to retrieve the wealth that helium had invested successful the project. It was lone erstwhile Tim threatened to barroom Stephen from his son’s wedding successful 2015 that helium yet stumped up immoderate of the money. At the wedding, Stephen seemed stressed. He mostly stayed successful his edifice room, taking enactment calls and firing disconnected emails, and appeared lone concisely astatine the meal.
“I truly deliberation Stephen felt helium was owed a large payday, provided helium could support his caput supra h2o for a play of time,” said Sarah. “I’ve got friends who enactment successful nonrecreational services similar this … they ever think, ‘My adjacent determination is going to beryllium the large one, I’ll beryllium managing manager astatine JP Morgan, and each this indebtedness I’ve incurred volition beryllium sorted out.’” More than 1 erstwhile lawsuit told maine that alternatively than ringfencing their wealth successful Jirehouse’s slope account, they aboriginal learned that Jones had been dipping into this relationship whenever helium had a cashflow occupation oregon urgently needed to repay a debt. “I get the content it was conscionable 1 large cookware of money, and whoever shouted the loudest would get paid backmost from it,” said Bruce McKay. Yet determination besides seemed to beryllium a hierarchy. While Fomichev ever received the involvement repayment connected the loans each month, the McKay household often recovered it intolerable to get Jirehouse to administer payments from their household trust.
It is intolerable to pinpoint precisely erstwhile Jones crossed the enactment from utilizing taxation avoidance strategies for his clients to fleecing those clients. Having pushed truthful aggressively against the boundaries of UK taxation laws, possibly it wasn’t astonishing that Jones recovered himself tempted to spell 1 measurement further and interruption the instrumentality himself. In 2009, Jirehouse organised a indebtedness for £300,000, which was secured against McKay’s location successful Angus. McKay was not informed. In 2015, Jirehouse took retired a indebtedness for £826,880 from a lender that specialised successful high-interest sub-prime mortgages. The indebtedness was secured against the onshore wherever McKay was gathering a play course, and against his caller bungalow. It bore monthly involvement of 1.5% – amounting to a steep yearly involvement complaint of 18%. Once again, McKay said this was done down his back.
The deeper Jones went into debt, the bolder helium grew. “All it takes is simply a mates of atrocious decisions for you to beryllium successful £2m of debt, and past successful a year’s clip it becomes £2.5m, and past that becomes £3m,” said Fomichev. Vasily Peganov told maine that betwixt 2014 and 2016, Jirehouse took retired 2 loans secured against his level successful Belgravia; the archetypal for £1.6m and the 2nd for £3.1m. At the time, Peganov said helium knew thing astir either of them.
Many of Jirehouse’s London unit lacked the blue-chip credentials 1 mightiness expect from a boutique taxation steadfast serving precocious nett worthy clients. “The bulk of young radical determination wouldn’t person been capable to get a occupation elsewhere,” said James, the erstwhile Jirehouse unit member. Jones took pridefulness successful the firm’s cosmopolitanism, and Jirehouse advertised that its unit spoke Pashto, Russian, Serbo-Croat and Turkmen. Sarah speculated that determination was different crushed Jones liked to situation himself with radical connected enactment visas. “It meant that a) they astir apt didn’t cognize what was going on, and b) if they did, their superior interest was protecting their enactment status.”
Not each of Jirehouse’s unit remained silent. Three erstwhile unit members contacted the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). One, who wrote to the regulator successful 2010, was acrophobic that the steadfast was struggling to wage its debts. Another reported the steadfast successful 2013 and said that Jones appeared to beryllium borrowing wealth against his clients’ assets. That aforesaid year, a 3rd whistleblower wrote that “Mr Jones is taking funds from the concern successful what appears to beryllium an inappropriate manner”. According to them, Jones adjacent paid for his son’s schoolhouse fees astatine Eton utilizing Jirehouse’s money.
The SRA has far-reaching powers to analyse immoderate instrumentality steadfast successful England. It tin crook up unannounced, entreaty to an autarkic sheet to adjacent a firm, request that unit manus implicit their computers and prehend documents. It tin notation solicitors to a disciplinary tribunal that tin enforce unlimited fines, portion solicitors of their practising certificates and barroom them from ever moving again. But the 2 whistleblowers I spoke to felt the SRA hadn’t taken their complaints earnestly enough. The SRA typically gives instrumentality firms 7 days’ announcement if it intends to sojourn – a precious model of opportunity. Not agelong aft 1 of the whistleblowers had reported Jirehouse, Sarah told maine that they got a telephone from a erstwhile workfellow who inactive worked there. The workfellow said:“[The SRA] told america they’re coming successful adjacent week. So I’ve spent each nighttime shredding documents and penning up caller ones.”
Most of Jones’s clients were recently affluent men who were strangers to the precocious rungs of the British people system. Most of them were multimillionaires, not billionaires. But successful the outpouring of 2018, Jones was introduced to a much almighty and blase client. Discovery Land Company was a US spot steadfast that built high-end vacation resorts. The institution was owned successful portion by John Paul DeJoria, a self-made California billionaire. Discovery wanted to bargain Taymouth Castle, a expansive Victorian property successful the Scottish Highlands, successful bid to make it into a luxury play nine with a clump of caller backstage houses. DeJoria was adamant that his individuality stay a secret, lest the seller of the castle usage DeJoria’s immense wealthiness arsenic a bargaining spot to unafraid a higher acquisition price.
Jones advised that if Discovery wanted to support DeJoria’s sanction a secret, they should usage 1 of Jones’s companies, Esquiline Asset Managers, to bargain the castle. In April 2018, Discovery wired $14,050,000 to Jirehouse’s lawsuit relationship to screen the castle purchase. On 6 December, 1 time earlier the merchantability was owed to complete, Jones emailed explaining that determination had been a hitch. Jirehouse needed clip to undertake “compliance checks” connected immoderate of the money. To forestall the merchantability from falling through, Jones asked Discovery to nonstop an further $9.3m, which would screen the funds that were inactive being checked. In effect, Jones was asking the institution to wage for the castle twice, but helium assured Discovery’s lawyers that erstwhile these checks were done, Jirehouse would refund this $9.3m promptly.
Discovery sent the wealth across, and the acquisition of Taymouth Castle completed. But by the extremity of December, they were inactive waiting connected a refund. DeJoria and the firm’s owners were increasing progressively suspicious. They hired Gibson Dunn, a large planetary instrumentality firm, to analyse the transaction. By February 2019, Jones had agreed with Gibson Dunn’s lawyers that Jirehouse would enactment the funds it was holding connected behalf of Discovery into a separate slope account. Once the checks were complete, Discovery would get its wealth back.
Then, successful March 2019, Discovery recovered that Jirehouse had taken retired a £5m indebtedness against Taymouth Castle from a tiny owe institution called Dragonfly Finance. “The delays successful returning the moneys were suspicious enough, but discovering that Jones had borrowed wealth against the spot without telling the lawsuit was connected a wholly antithetic level,” recalled Ed Levey KC, Discovery’s barrister. Levey applied for a freezing bid against Esquiline Asset Managers, the institution Jones controlled, and astatine a proceeding held astatine the precocious tribunal successful London connected Friday 15 March, Jones gave an “undertaking” – a legally binding committedness – to wage backmost the wealth helium owed to Discovery by 4pm connected Tuesday the pursuing week.
But connected the pursuing Monday, Jones tried to wriggle retired of his undertaking. He told the tribunal that helium realised the wealth helium owed to Discovery happened to beryllium successful what helium called, obliquely, a “longer-term concern portfolio”. Levey told maine that Jones looked similar idiosyncratic “who knew the location of cards he’d built was astir to topple over”. If Jones failed to fulfil the undertaking, determination was a hazard that helium would beryllium blameworthy of contempt of tribunal – which could transportation a situation sentence. His different clients were starting to fishy their wealth wasn’t safe. In April 2019, Fomichev didn’t person the monthly involvement outgo connected his loans. Peganov’s ex-wife received emails from Harrow and Westminster, the schools her sons attended, informing her that the fees which were usually paid retired of their household spot were late. Jones hosted an exigency gathering the pursuing period astatine the Halkin edifice adjacent Buckingham Palace with his wealthiest clients (Ewan and Bruce McKay weren’t invited). “He was trying to transportation everybody that helium would repay everything,” said Fomichev. The temper was strained, and Jones gave his apologies with the sombre condemnation of a disgraced MP.
Yet Jones inactive seemed assured that helium could hole the problems helium had created. “It was rather bonzer that helium remained truthful placid, truthful affirmative astir his capableness to determination things forward,” recalled Kevin, a Jirehouse workfellow (not their existent name). “If anything, helium was too at ease.” Jones wouldn’t beryllium capable to support practising arsenic a lawyer successful Britain aft Discovery had taken him to court, but helium seemed unperturbed. “He was saying, it doesn’t substance if I get struck off. I’ve got occupation offers from entities successful Switzerland,” recalled Bruce McKay.
Jones remained calm adjacent connected Friday 3 May, erstwhile the SRA turned up astatine his offices and informed him, portion helium was walking down the stairs to greet them, that helium was formally suspended. A squad of 3 officers went from level to floor, seizing laptops and ensuring cipher was shredding documents. Over the adjacent 4 days, contractors employed by the SRA collected astir 1,500 boxes of files from Jirehouse’s Bloomsbury offices and retention facilities successful Oxford and Essex. Nine years aft the archetypal whistleblower had contacted the SRA astir Jirehouse, the regulator yet started gearing up to person Jones suspended.
In the end, the courts decided the substance up of the SRA. At a proceeding connected 16 August 2019, Antony Zacaroli, a precocious tribunal judge, sentenced Jones to 14 months successful situation connected four counts of contempt. Once helium was sentenced, Jones was struck disconnected the solicitor’s roll. His mother, his woman and his lad each turned retired to the precocious tribunal of justness successful London to ticker the justice present the sentence. For a solicitor who seemed to deliberation helium was supra the law, it was an bonzer autumn from grace. “When helium got that 1 twelvemonth [sentence] for contempt, I felt astir a consciousness of disappointment,” said Sarah. “I thought, this is such fertile crushed … like, clasp on, there’s intelligibly an atrocious batch much present to uncover.”
Once Jones arrived successful Pentonville prison, helium wrote a missive to Ewan McKay. By this point, McKay had grown to despise Jones. But helium was besides wary of alienating the lawyer, fearing that doing truthful would lone marque it much hard to regain power of his assets. “The fig of times [Jones] fundamentally threw the toys retired of the pram due to the fact that Dad had got frustrated,” Bruce McKay recalled. “And I would travel successful arsenic the mediator and calm things down.”
Ewan McKay work the blithe code of Jones’s missive arsenic an insult. “Time seems to person slipped by rapidly since the fateful time of 16 August,” Jones wrote. “Once inside, 1 is truthful immune to regular beingness connected the extracurricular and truthful the idiosyncratic interaction volition lone beryllium truly felt connected release.” Jones did not look contrite. He doubly reminded McKay successful his missive that helium was a “civil” prisoner, underlining the connection “civil” for emphasis. “Most radical wonderment wherefore I americium adjacent present and look much discerning than a precocious tribunal judge,” helium wrote.
In a missive helium wrote to Tim, however, Jones seemed little confident. “How I ended up successful this presumption I bash not know,” helium said. “Sixty years look to person evaporated into nothing.” He was peculiarly acrophobic that the justice had referred the lawsuit to the constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). There surely seemed to beryllium capable grounds to equine a transgression prosecution: Jones had allegedly stolen much than $9m from a client, secretly taken retired a owe connected their castle, and refused to accidental wherever helium had hidden their money. But erstwhile Discovery’s barrister, Stephen Kay KC, wrote to the constabulary to inquire astir the presumption of their investigations 18 months aft they had received the case, helium was shocked by the response. “The record had been sent, and that was it. They had done nothing,” Kay told me.
A poorer businessman mightiness person decided to chopped their losses astatine this point, but DeJoria was a billionaire, and helium wanted revenge. “John Paul has the capableness to instrumentality things done close the mode to the end, which nary 1 other could spend to do,” said Henry Anderson, a spot developer and person of DeJoria’s who had been acting arsenic Discovery’s UK agent. “What Stephen did was the equivalent of being the skinniest, tiniest feline and walking up to the biggest bruiser successful the playground and throwing a punch successful his stomach.”
When the constabulary diminution to analyse a transgression and the CPS truthful doesn’t prosecute, the lone enactment for a idiosyncratic seeking justness is to prosecute what’s known arsenic a “private prosecution”, which tin beryllium prohibitively expensive. The emergence successful these backstage prosecutions has coincided with deep cuts to the transgression justness system, and determination is present a increasing manufacture of lawyers serving affluent individuals who tin spend to wage for justice, conscionable arsenic they wage for backstage schools and backstage healthcare.
Kay’s squad already had a upland of evidence, but Jones had proved himself a maestro flight artist. Having served his condemnation for contempt, Jones was present retired of situation and surviving backmost successful Little Venice, wherever helium had cultivated an involvement successful gardening, Tim told me. Over the two-year play starring up to the transgression trial, Jones changed his squad of defence lawyers twice, which delayed the trial. A day was yet acceptable for November 2022.
Discovery’s lawsuit hinged connected a elemental premise. “The wealth had gone. It had ne'er been accounted for,” Kay said. Rather than getting into analyzable questions involving the mechanics of offshore finance, Kay would absorption connected the cardinal issue. Jones had agelong denied immoderate allegations of criminality, truthful Kay planned to inquire him 1 question: “Where is the money?” If helium couldn’t answer, this would surely found his guilt.
The proceeding astatine Southwark crown tribunal successful November 2022 could person been a theatrical last act, successful which Jones yet confessed his crimes during a hostile cross-examination. But a fewer days earlier the proceedings began, Jones decided to plead blameworthy to fraud. He didn’t springiness evidence, helium wasn’t transverse examined and, connected the time of his sentencing, helium softly filed into the dock, wearing a pink checked shirt and a blazer, and carrying a Waitrose tote bag. The justice was contemptuous, calling Jones’s actions a “rank enactment of dishonesty”. Then, addressing Jones directly, helium said: “Your bosom indispensable person leapt erstwhile you heard the CPS and the constabulary had decided not to prosecute specified an evidently prosecutable case.” He sentenced Jones to 12 years successful prison. It is 1 of the longest transgression sentences a British lawyer has ever received.
Only Jones, and possibly a tiny fistful of individuals, cognize precisely what helium did with the money. One mentation is that helium spent it connected repaying existing debts. “Ten cardinal sounds similar a lot, but helium astir apt spent it precise rapidly successful conscionable patching things up,” Fomichev told me. Another mentation is that Jones pocketed Discovery’s money, stashed it successful Nevis, and is counting down the days until helium tin bask it successful his retirement. The enigma of what, ultimately, compelled Jones to bargain the wealth is nary little murky. Perhaps helium was disquieted astir thing much threatening than a situation sentence. “He mightiness beryllium spending the remainder of his beingness looking implicit his shoulder, due to the fact that look astatine what happened to Scot Young,” said Sarah. Another lawyer who was acquainted with Jones suggested that his reasons had much to bash with arrogance. “I don’t deliberation helium knew helium would get caught, oregon that helium couldn’t regenerate the cash.” (I wrote to Jones successful prison, asking if helium would similar to talk for this article, but did not perceive back.)
After a protracted ineligible battle, Jirehouse’s insurer, Axis, was forced to wage retired $7m to Discovery Land successful early 2024. The lawsuit has fixed immoderate of Jones’s erstwhile clients hope. After Jirehouse went into administration, Fomichev, who lent astir £15m to Jones, learned that these loans weren’t really secured against anything. There was truthful small helium could laic assertion to. His spot is present pursuing Axis done the courts for £20m. So, too, is Peganov’s household trust. He and his ex-wife are astatine hazard of losing their flat successful Belgravia, since 1 of Jirehouse’s creditors is attempting to repossess it.
Ewan McKay has mislaid astir everything. He said that Jones had drained his household trust, mortgaged the onshore intended for his play people and mortgaged his bungalow. The onshore for the play people was seized by Jirehouse’s creditors, and McKay and his woman are readying to determination location successful bid to wage disconnected the mortgage. Until then, McKay volition inactive person a nonstop presumption of the play course, which is present being redeveloped by different company. “Dad’s looking implicit the obstruction astatine idiosyncratic other gathering retired his dream,” said Bruce.
Jones’s clients often asked maine however immoderate of this could hap successful a state that prided itself connected the regularisation of law. “The ineligible strategy successful the UK is built to screw people,” Peganov said. There are apt to beryllium galore much characters similar Jones who ne'er extremity up successful situation due to the fact that they were not foolish oregon hopeless capable to people idiosyncratic arsenic affluent arsenic DeJoria. “There are scammers left, close and centre, due to the fact that they cognize the constabulary won’t interaction them,” said Kay, the transgression barrister. “Jones was successful that category, excessively … helium was calculating that helium could get distant with it. And the cognition of the CPS and the constabulary wholly proved that point.” (An SRA spokesperson told maine that Jirehouse was “a analyzable case”, and that the archetypal reports from whistleblowers did not supply capable grounds for them to intervene. “When we did get grounds of misconduct, we took action,” they said. The CPS told maine that though it provided “early investigative advice” to the police, it was ne'er asked to see charges and it tin lone statesman transgression proceedings erstwhile the constabulary person investigated. The Metropolitan constabulary did not respond to my petition for comment, nor my interrogation requests.)
For Tim Jones, the wealth helium mislaid from investing successful his brother’s spot improvement felt little important than the consciousness of betrayal. Though his parents regularly sojourn Stephen successful prison, and Stephen has precocious been transferred to a little information facility, wherever helium is allowed to marque time visits to his family, Tim has ne'er been to spot him, due to the fact that Stephen has ne'er afloat acknowledged the symptom helium has caused.
Stephen seemed to beryllium approaching his condemnation arsenic though it were simply different section successful his Christian mission. He had been teaching the Alpha Course to his chap inmates, Tim said.
It was hard to archer from Stephen’s letters whether helium was genuinely remorseful, oregon whether this remorse was conscionable different calculated performance. In February 2023, Stephen sent Tim a watercolour helium had painted of a sunset. The apology, scrawled connected the reverse of the painting, is astir illegible.
English (US) ·