We discover in this video Jesse Hester, a British national who heads Atlas Corporate Services, located in Grand-Baie, in conversation with a journalist who is disguised as a customer. The area is a company based in Panama, which he would be shareholder. The customer wants to know how to avoid paying tax in the UK on the activities of this company.
Jesse Hester response will bring water to the mill of The Guardian team conducting an inquiry on the offshore and its secrets. "The possibility of getting caught is very low," responds the offshore professional. "This is very rare, (British) tax authorities do not have the resources to track everyone down." "They reckon it's probably the same odds as winning the lottery probably rough."
During this conversation, we hear the offshore professional journalist: "If you want to sleep, pay the 40% of tax and you will probably have a small penalty also (to pay). If this is not what you want to do, I suggest you off the record that I have you suggested.»
Jesse Hester, that the express contacted, says that this video gives a biased view of what really happened and that his comments were entirely out of context.
«Atlas refutes all the allegations made in this program. "Atlas goes through a rigorous process of exploration and due diligence before formally engaging with a client", should add.
The British newspaper The Guardian has launched this week, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a series of investigations on the secrets of offshore, on the widespread use of Directors of facade that hide real holders of huge fortunes that escape the taxman.