How Do 28 People Secretly Manage 21,500 Companies?

An investigative report claims thousands of companies are “directed” by a handful of people, possibly for anonymity or to avoid taxes…

One British couple, Sarah and Edward Petre-Mears (video), who migrated from Sark in the Channel Islands to the Caribbean island of Nevis, have sold their services to more than 2,000 entities, with their names appearing on activities ranging from Russian luxury property purchases to pornography and casino sites.

In 1999, the government claimed Britain’s sham director industry had been “effectively outlawed” after a judge, Mr Justice Blackburne, said the court would not tolerate “the situation where someone takes on the directorship of so many companies and then totally abrogates responsibility”. But our findings show this has failed to be policed.

Check out the report, which names some names. They say the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is working on a global list, so we may hear about even more secret company directors.