Lyca Group

From WikiCorporates
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Lyca-Group-Lycamobile.svg

The Lyca business empire is a highly complex web of 60+ entities spanning at least 19 countries, headed by the UK-registered companies WWW Holding Company and Lycamobile UK Ltd, which parent a network of subsidiaries. The corporate structure has been described by experts as being perfectly geared to move money offshire to avoid UK taxes. Most of the group’s revenue flows ultimately to the tax haven of Madeira, where the intellectual property rights to its branding are squirrelled away.
The Lyca Group reported global sales of £1.1bn last year, but it has consistently avoided paying UK corporation tax by moving revenue to Madeira through its intricate network of companies.

The Madeira companies buy airtime from the major telecoms operators wholesale and sells it to the rest of the group. The group companies then sell it on cheap prepaid calling cards and SIMs to its 14m customers – mostly migrants from Asia, Africa, and South America living in Europe – so they can “call the world for less”. Many customers pay for goods in cash, although a Lycamobile insider told BuzzFeed News it sells the majority of its calling cards through large distributors that buy in bulk rather than directly to shop owners.

Allirajah Subaskaran is founder and chairman of Lyca Group, and a major Tory donor - £1.3m since 2011.("Called to account", Private Eye #1404 p.37, Oct.30.2015) Lyca donated use of a call centre to Boris Johnson during his London mayoral election campaign in 2012.ref Mr Subaskaran is worth £1yym, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2019.ref

Company

Ownership

A Subaskaran: 97.8%

  • WWW Holding Company, CH

A Subaskaran: 98.5%

  • Lycamobile UK Ltd, CH
  • Lycamobile Ltd
    • Lycamobile Sweden Ltd (UK)
  • Lucamobile AG
  • Lycatel Distribution UK Ltd
  • Lycatelcom Lda
    • Lycamobile Srl
  • ... ...

A Subaskaran: 98%:

  • Thames Quay Properties Holdings Ltd
    • Thames Quay Properties II Ltd

Structure

ToDo: Lycamobile UK Ltd, CH, Allirajah Subaskaran CH

See also list of subsids on the Lycamobile website here: Lycamobile, Lycaremit, Lycamoney, Lycafly, Lycatalk, Lycatel, Lycachat, LycaTV, Lycalotto.

Articles

  • Apr.19.2018: Treasury Committee to examine why HMRC refused to assist French probe into Lycamobile. According to the Electoral Commission’s donation database, the company frequently donated to the Conservatives until 2016 and in that year alone handed the party over £600,000 in cash and auction prizes. The Commons Treasury Committee is to examine why HM Revenue and Customs refused to assist French authorities with a financial probe into a company that had donated considerable sums of money to the Conservative party. It comes after an investigation by Buzzfeed showed that an email sent from HMRC officials mentioned how the telecoms giant Lycamobile was a donor to Theresa May’s party and the Prince Charles Trust and would be “extremely unlikely” to agree to having their premises searched. Ashley Cowburn, The Independent.
  • Apr.19.2018: The UK Refused To Raid A Company Suspected Of Money Laundering, Citing Its Tory Donations. The govt refused to assist a French investigation into suspected money laundering and tax fraud by the UK telecoms giant Lycamobile – citing the fact that the company is the “biggest corporate donor to the Conservative party” and gives money to a trust founded by Prince Charles. French prosecutors launched a major probe into the firm and arrested 19 people accused of using its accounts to launder money from organised criminal networks two years ago, after BuzzFeed News revealed its suspicious financial activities in the UK. Confidential correspondence between British govt officials and their French counterparts: "Lycamobile is “a large multinational company” with “vast assets at their disposal” and would be “extremely unlikely to agree to having their premises searched”. “It is of note that they are the biggest corporate donor to the Conservative party led by Prime Minister Theresa May and donated 1.25m Euros to the Prince Charles Trust in 2012.” Lycamobile has been ordered to pay €20m bail after its two French companies were formally charged with money laundering in a Paris court in November and January. The govt has not taken any action against the company, even after the French launched their money laundering probe. Meanwhile, the Conservative party Conservatives Donations has accepted a total of £2.2m from Lycamobile — including more than £800,000 after BuzzFeed News first exposed the company’s suspicious business practices. This week, the Conservatives announced that they had decided to stop taking any further money from Lycamobile 2 years ago. The party last accepted a donation in Jul.2016, a month after BuzzFeed News revealed the French money laundering raids. Lord (Ken) Macdonald, England’s former Director of Public Prosecutions, said the govt’s response to the French request for assistance represented “a descent into banana republic law enforcement”. Lycamobile’s Sri Lankan-born owner Subaskaran Allirajah, is close to the foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Lycamobile has also made significant donations to the British Asian Trust, which was set up by Prince Charles to tackle poverty in South Asia. Suthorities in Sri Lanka have launched an investigation into a key offshore company in the Lyca empire suspected of being used to launder money embezzled by the country’s autocratic former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. France's Tracfin financial intelligence unit spotted Lycamobile Services had billed tens of millions of minutes of international airtime to what appeared to be ghost companies. Lycamobile Services had received payments totalling €75m over a 9-month period in 2015 from 19 companies that bore all the hallmarks of being shell companies. And the funds were transferred into Lyca’s offshore network via a bank account in London. BuzzFeed News visited the 19 customers of Lycamobile Services, to see whether it was possible to buy a SIM or prepaid calling card from any of them. All but one were registered at PO boxes, vacant offices, derelict buildings, or a construction site. At none of these locations was it actually possible to buy any Lyca products. When BuzzFeed News revealed the French arrests and exposed the network of alleged shell companies, the Tories ignored calls from the opposition to sever ties; and accepted a gift of £45,000 the month after the Paris raids. When one nation wants help from another in a criminal investigation, it makes a formal request for “mutual legal assistance”. The response, which came days later from a civil servant named Christopher Wood on HMRC's mutual legal assistance team, was a resounding rejection. The French prosecution of the telecoms giant continued, and by January this year investigators had obtained enough evidence to charge Lycamobile’s two French companies with orchestrating a major money laundering scheme as well as evading tens of millions of euros of VAT. The full trial is expected to take place at the end of 2018. Linkback: Yvette Cooper. Heidi Blake, Tom Warren, Richard Holmes, Jane Bradley, BuzzFeed News. See also The iNews and Economia
  • Jun.20.2016: Tory donors investigated for tax fraud. The Conservatives accepted almost £900,000 in donations from telecoms giant Lycamobile while it was being investigated for tax fraud and money laundering. George Keate, The Times.
  • Oct.07.2015: Lycamobile Reported To Cops For "Money Laundering". Lycamobile's main telecoms rival reported its suspicious money movements to the police after corporate spies were hired to tail its bagmen. Michael Gillard, Tom Warren, Heidi Blake, Jane Bradley, Richard Holmes, BuzzFeed News.
  • Oct.05.2015: This Tory Donor Was Secretly Filmed Dropping Cash-Stuffed Rucksacks At Post Offices. One of the Conservative party’s biggest corporate donors, Lycamobile, is facing serious questions over its finances after three bagmen were secretly filmed dropping off rucksacks stuffed with hundreds of thousands of pounds twice a day at Post Offices across London. The Lyca telecoms group deploys three men to drive around in an unmarked people carrier depositing bags of money, which have totalled up to £1 million each week. Lycamobile has donated more than £1.3m to the Conservative Party since David Cameron came to power, including over £500,000 in this year alone, despite avoiding paying any corporation tax for years by moving revenue out of the UK through a complex offshore corporate network. After Ernst & Young resigned in May.2014, KPMG unearthed almost £46 million of previously undeclared revenue earlier this year. Internal Tory emails show that the party accepted a large donation just days after the party’s compliance department raised concerns about its chaotic accounting in 2012. The gift bought the company’s Sri Lankan-born owner, Subaskaran Allirajah, a place in David Cameron’s private dining club for top donors, and the emails show he promised to advise the party on business and help deliver British Asian votes. BuzzFeed News can also reveal that authorities in Sri Lanka are launching an investigation into a key offshore company in the Lyca empire as part of an international probe into allegations of corruption by the country’s despotic former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Post Office staffers said the Lyca employees had offered cashiers mobile phones and calling cards, which they were forbidden from accepting. The emails relate to meetings between Lycamobile lobbyist Dr Anwara Ali, then Tory party treasurer Peter Cruddas, and party chair Andrew Feldman to discuss a donation of £110,000 in 2012. The donation was to cover two £50,000 memberships of the Leader's Group, as well as a £10,000 injection into Boris Johnson’s campaign for re-election as mayor of London. Boris then praised the company publicly. In Nov.2013, Cameron was urged to investigate Lycamobile’s links to corrupt Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Cameron continued accepting its donations. Allirajah has previously denied allegations about his connections to Rajapaksa. Investigators in Sri Lanka have told BuzzFeed News that a company jointly owned by a key arm of the Lyca empire and the nephew of the former president will be investigated over shady dealings. Lyca is still doing business in Sri Lanka. Linkback: AA Com. name=Heidi Blake, Michael Gillard, Tom Warren, Jane Bradley, Richard Holmes, BuzzFeed News.
  • Sept.18.2013: Margaret Hodge Warns Tories 'Lose Credibility' Taking Money From Tax 'Offender' Lycamobile. Margaret Hodge has launched a fierce attack on the Tories for accepting nearly half a million pounds of support from telecoms giant Lycamobile, which has not paid UK corporation tax since 2007, despite making millions each year. Lycamobile are one of the Tories' biggest corporate donors, having given the party over £420,000 since 2011. LibDem PAC member Ian Swales told HuffPostUK: "I believe Lycamobile is one of the many companies who export the profits from their UK activities to tax havens via interest payments and so forth. I feel that a company that makes no UK profit should not be donating to a UK political party." Tory MP Henry Smith hit back at Hodge over her remarks, writing on Twitter: "Does Margaret Hodge really care about tax avoidance, why hasn't she investigated @unitetheunion who haven’t paid tax in 2 years?" Asa Bennett, HuffPost.