The Business mogul whose wealth is put at $17.3 billion owns Africa’s largest cement production company, Dangote Cement. Aliko Dangote, Suyya Dantata, and other of the billionaire’s relatives have been linked to shell companies in tax havens.
Here’s what PREMIUM TIMES, the only Nigerian media house involved in the analysis of the leaked documents said:
Mr. Dangote, alongside his half brother, Sayyu Dantata, the founder of MRS Holdings (a leading West African oil-marketing firm, which acquired Chevron-Texaco’s downstream assets in 2007) bought equal shares of 12,500 each from OVLAS S.A, a shell company registered in Seycheles, on October 6, 2003.
According to the documents, three years after they existed as shareholders of the company, the trio – Dangote, Dantata and M.R.S Oil and Gas Company Limited – ceased to be shareholder in the company. That was on April 12, 2006.
But in an arrangement that seems curious, Mr. Dangote was issued a higher amount of shares – 250,000 – on the same day he resigned.
In the same manner, his brother, Mr. Dantata, was issued the same amount of 250,000 shares. That means the businessmen simply resold the shares back to themselves. Their company, MRS Oil and Gas, was re-issued 500,000 shares.
After three years of holding the shares, they all ceased to be shareholders. Again, they resumed possession of the shares as in the previous time, but this time it seems Mr. Dangote sold his shares to Mr. Dantata and M.R.S Oil and Gas Company Limited.
Mr. Dangote ceased to be shareholder permanently on July 6, 2009, and Mr. Dantata’s amount of shares doubled to 500,000 shares while MRS Oil and Gas CO, LTD retained its 500,000 shares. Documents show Mr. Danatata never sold, transferred his shares or ceased to be a shareholder till date.
Before Mr. Dangote ceased to be shareholder of M.R.S Oil and Gas Limited, himself, Mr. Dantata and their co-owned company, M.R.S Oil and Gas Co. Limited, was used to buy shares in Petrowest S.A, another company registered in Seychelles on October 6, 2003.
Messrs Dangote and Dantata bought equal shares of 12,500 each from Petrowest S.A, MRS Oil and Gas Co. Ltd also bought 25,000 numbers of shares from Petrowest, just as was done with OVLAS S.A.
Again, three years after they existed as shareholders, the trio – Dangote, Dantata and M.R.S Oil and Gas Company Limited ceased to be shareholders in the company. That was also dated April 12, 2006.
Like in the case of Ovlas S.A, Mr. Dangote suddenly ceased to be shareholder. According to documents available to PREMIUM TIMES, on the same day, Mr. Dangote was re-issued a higher amount of shares – 250,000. In the same manner, his brother, Mr. Dantata, was issued the same amount of 250,000 shares. This literary means they resold the shares back to themselves. Their company MRS Oil and Gas was re-issued 500,000 shares.
In what appears a plot to blur the trace to the Ovlas in Seychelles, the shareholders quickly filed for a change of name to Petrowest S.A.
A document seen by PREMIUM TIMES, reads “Republic of Seychelles, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 1994…Company No: 018606…”
This is to certify that OVLAS SA. has changed its name and is now incorporated under the name of PETROWEST S.A. on this 27th day of April 2011. Given at Victoria, Seychelles.
Responding to PREMIUM TIMES, Dangote Group’s spokesman, Tony Chiejina who debunked the the claims in the papers said,
Thank you for your enquiry concerning our alleged relationship with the following off shore companies namely: Paseo Trading Ltd, Seychelles; Petrowest S.A.,Seychelles; SID Holdings Corp, Panama and Chalmers Shipping Inc, Panama.
I wish to state categorically that neither Aliko Dangote nor Dangote Industries Ltd (DIL) has any form of relationship with these alleged four off shore companies. The Group has four quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and we cannot afford to tarnish our reputation or conduct our business in an unethical manner given this profile.
Our reputation is paramount to us and we are conscious of the downside of it. We thank you for upholding the principal ethics in journalism – ‘when in doubt, check’.
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27 Comments on #PanamaPapers: Africa’s Richest Man, Aliko Dangote’s Name Linked to Shell Companies
swagg1 April 7, 2016 at 5:04 pm
This is no surprise., cuz we all know that all these so called wealthy people are shady. We will continue to shame them in public for ill-gotten wealth.
They are not hiding it because it is Ill gotten, they are hiding it because they are avoiding tax and note that what they got involved in is not Illegal.
@Truth, not true, how do u think Dangote made and continue to make some of his fortune ??? Dont be naive, cuz some of that money is illgotten, my friend. We will contnue to shame them in public.
Bolanle, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘witholding taxes’ in such context. Witholding taxes of itself is NOT illegal. But if you mean the tax payer holding on to his due taxes then yes it is illegal.
This is not to say tax avoidance is a way of holding on to due tax. No, it’s simply injecting your hard earned monies in another jurisdiction where lesser taxes or no tax will be paid.
I think something is off for me. When business people own shell companies for the purposes of conducting international business transactions, I dont see that as foul play. When a government official who is prohibited from owning such a business owns one, then I gotz problems. Dangote has been a business man all his life. Do I think he just worked his hands raw until he made it ? No. He had help from helpers in government who gave him uncommon opportunity and access. He also inherited wealth from his grandfather who was a well established trader across west Africa. I am not surprised he has shell companies. Unless this news is that shell companies are fraudulent. I personally dont think so.
It is not unusual for high networth individuals all over the world to use shell companies as a means of hiding monies from government taxation, business associates, wives, families, hiding profits etc.. Shell companies are created to hide the actual owner/s of funds for whatever reasons…. Western governments don’t like shell companies because it prevents them from accurate taxation of certain individuals & companies which leads to loss tax revenues..
This has inspired me to finally study and sit for the CAMS exam I hate tax invaders . They make it seem we the honourable tax payers are fools I will blow whistle until there is a hole in my cheek
They’re not evaders, if that’s what you meant to say. They are ‘avoiders’ and tax avoiding is not illegal, see it as planning one’s affairs strategically. That is not to say that they do not pay their taxes at all. They still do but they attempt pay the lowest tax possible by planning their affairs, which is of course legal.
I don’t think that Trump having an offshore company will be detrimental to his campaign. It is not in itself illegal.
Hopefully, once you’re done with your CAMS exam and you make it big, you’d appreciate the role of tax havens.
Evaders yu mean @mimic…. lolz.. your village ppl will blow whistles at your funeral. .. these things are bigger than one man…. tax avoidance is not illegal.. evasion is…
Lolz.. avoidance is a very clever thing to attempt….. highly cerebral… it it come out to be what he is doing, I will vote him for president come 2019…. ask burari wat shell does…. lolololoz
Nigerians are waiting briefings from the right agencies on the meaning of these findings and their relevance (if any) to the corruption fight. If laws were broken and wrongs done, we hope there will be no sacred cows. On the other hand, if people have made their money through legitimate means, we should be mindful of impugning people’s character. My opinion.
Dangote is a big business man who does his transaction with high level of sense,respect and integrity.Panama or panama he is a patriotic Nigerian who operates with ethical standard. May God strengthen you the more.
Hmmm, u see…… U can’t just compare yourself to the kids of these people. GOD please bless me according to your plan for my destiny. BTW a lot of simple hard working not in social scenes Nigerians have shell companies.
Ibiza thanks for the correction. Iwant to know more. Tax evasion or tax avoidance please Educate me the big difference between the two, and why you think one will Appreciate it once they learn more. I don’t mean to sound facetious i really wanna know. My whole thing is paying my taxes is not something I enjoy but I have no choice I have to pay it, so when I hear some rich folks are able to avoid it and not charged with it it bothers me. Why would the poor be jailed and not the top rich strategically stashing in offshore accounts in Panama and cayman islands. its like the rich are always protected. This iswhy iI really wanna learn more about compliance as well as money laundering. Are you certified? Cos if you do I have questions too.
By the way I still don’t believe no Americans are not on the list. It’s a lie. Legal or not legal I wanna know who they are.
When you start paying a huge chunk of your salary as taxes then you will understand more. When your annual tax bill 10yrs into your career can fund 3-5 people through university education in a place like London, you will realise it is not a joke. If at 10 yrs you are paying that much tax, you can imagine how much you will end up with by the time you retire.
Tax avoidance is paying the least amount of tax you can get away with. Like someone said, it is not illegal. It is hiring a professional to help to help you structure your portfolio to help you be more tax efficient. Take someone that earns 200k per year in the UK, they only take home 117k home after tax. Lets say, the person is super prudent and invested 100k in an asset (property/ shares). First they have to pay stamp duty on the asset they are buying (another tax) but it is all good. If they decide to sell said profit a few years on say for 200k, they will pay 28% tax. If however, they dont sell it and then they die and willed it to their children.
Assuming, their main house of residence ate into their nil rate band (which is usually the case for most), your family will have to pay 40% tax on the asset you acquired using income you already paid tax on. If they cant afford the tax payment on this, they will have to sell the asset to pay the tax bill.
If a tax adviser told you that your offspring wont have to pay inheritance tax if you set up a trust fund or bought your asset under a shell company? Or what if they said, if you earned your salary as an independent contractor (doing same job) you will only pay 20% income tax and most of your expenses will be deductible? As you earn more money and pay more tax, it becomes financially responsible for you to hire a tax professional to structure your portfolio. Govt know that they have no legal grounds on these people/ organisations (they can obviously change the law but they dont) so they pick a few people and shame them by media trial into paying more tax or tarnishing their rep.
Tax avoidance is not evasion.
PS: I think they should change the name to tax structuring/ management becuz that is a better description but unfortunately, that wont sell news
Thank you Larz, you couldn’t have said it better. If I have a way to legally reduce the amount of tax I can pay, I would definitely use it ( for now I stick to the simple ones – Gift aid, additional AVC contributions etc). It is bad enough being in the 40% tax band and knowing any additional income you make by the side would automatically be taxed at that rate. On top of it at the end of it all there is inheritance tax and what not, it’s frustrating. 5p bag charge. Sugar tax. Council tax. Road tax. Capital gains tax. All manners of tax. I def do not blame anyone seeking to reduce their tax bill after all we didn’t come to this world to work our ass out for the govt.
The issue with Nigerian politicians using tax havens is majority are simply hiding stolen money, whilst the businessmen using tax havens is more for tax reasons (which is legal, though some people would say it is not moral) .
In my opinion, Inheritance tax and CGT are one of the purest forms of evil on the ordinary working man.
And I can see some reason as to why large corporations are told to drop a share of their capital gains with Mr. Taxman… but look at the individual working to increase their humble income. Mr. Taxman already skims off 25%-40% off their 9-5 salary, then waits for them to identify any small, money-making opportunity by the side (such as selling shares, house, even certain values of jewellery kwa) and returns to collect CGT on top anything which smells like financial gain.
Then he’ll retreat to his corner to wait for one wealthy family member to die so that he can fine the same people again for inheritance tax. Haba! Sometimes, I feel like we’re constantly landing on that spot on the monopoly board – you know the one after you pass “GO!” and you’ve collected your £200, then you land there and the entire £200 is taken from you? Na so this Mr. Taxman levels just dey… ??
@Ephi, that 5p bag charge…. I have vexed at shop tills and stuffed certain purchases in my coat pockets, rather than pick up a bag.
And I’m all for the move to save the environment by stopping unnecessary plastic waste (especially for those people who’ll buy 1 single Tom-Tom sweet and still collect plastic carrier bag from the cashier) … But can’t the rule be applied with reason? If customers spend over a certain threshold, why can’t the sales industry lobby the govt. so that those customers get complimentary bags? That’ll incentivise the public to maybe think of bulk shopping for household items more often, thereby reducing road traffic, saving fuel, moving more items off the shop shelves, etc. However, British businesses never think like that – you’ll see someone in a retail store spending a few hundred pounds, you still hear the cashier asking them to pay 5p for carrier bags… ?
I’m done giving out 5p for plastic bags, make dem use my council tax take maintain that environmental ethic.
Dangote is only trying to avoid paying hefty taxes. We all know that’s the largest financial expense we all make in this world. And Every rich smart person seeks ways to legally use loopholes to reduce or avoid it.
The Business mogul whose wealth is put at $17.3 billion owns Africa’s largest cement production company, Dangote Cement. Aliko Dangote, Suyya Dantata, and other of the billionaire’s relatives have been linked to shell companies in tax havens.
This is no surprise., cuz we all know that all these so called wealthy people are shady. We will continue to shame them in public for ill-gotten wealth.
Next in line: Adenuga, Otedola.
They are not hiding it because it is Ill gotten, they are hiding it because they are avoiding tax and note that what they got involved in is not Illegal.
@Truth, not true, how do u think Dangote made and continue to make some of his fortune ??? Dont be naive, cuz some of that money is illgotten, my friend. We will contnue to shame them in public.
But withholding taxes is illegal!
Bolanle, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘witholding taxes’ in such context. Witholding taxes of itself is NOT illegal. But if you mean the tax payer holding on to his due taxes then yes it is illegal.
This is not to say tax avoidance is a way of holding on to due tax. No, it’s simply injecting your hard earned monies in another jurisdiction where lesser taxes or no tax will be paid.
But doesn’t Dangote already not pay tax??
+
what Bolanle said
I think something is off for me. When business people own shell companies for the purposes of conducting international business transactions, I dont see that as foul play. When a government official who is prohibited from owning such a business owns one, then I gotz problems. Dangote has been a business man all his life. Do I think he just worked his hands raw until he made it ? No. He had help from helpers in government who gave him uncommon opportunity and access. He also inherited wealth from his grandfather who was a well established trader across west Africa. I am not surprised he has shell companies. Unless this news is that shell companies are fraudulent. I personally dont think so.
It is not unusual for high networth individuals all over the world to use shell companies as a means of hiding monies from government taxation, business associates, wives, families, hiding profits etc..
Shell companies are created to hide the actual owner/s of funds for whatever reasons….
Western governments don’t like shell companies because it prevents them from accurate taxation of certain individuals & companies which leads to loss tax revenues..
This has inspired me to finally study and sit for the CAMS exam
I hate tax invaders . They make it seem we the honourable tax payers are fools
I will blow whistle until there is a hole in my cheek
They’re not evaders, if that’s what you meant to say. They are ‘avoiders’ and tax avoiding is not illegal, see it as planning one’s affairs strategically. That is not to say that they do not pay their taxes at all. They still do but they attempt pay the lowest tax possible by planning their affairs, which is of course legal.
I don’t think that Trump having an offshore company will be detrimental to his campaign. It is not in itself illegal.
Hopefully, once you’re done with your CAMS exam and you make it big, you’d appreciate the role of tax havens.
Evaders yu mean @mimic…. lolz.. your village ppl will blow whistles at your funeral. .. these things are bigger than one man…. tax avoidance is not illegal.. evasion is…
I am convinced Donald Trump is on the list. Shebi the names are coming out small small. We shall see.
I get a weird feeling he is part of the reason these ‘papers’ are being leaked they are building is up for the BOOM! Well at least I hope so.
Lolz.. avoidance is a very clever thing to attempt….. highly cerebral… it it come out to be what he is doing, I will vote him for president come 2019…. ask burari wat shell does…. lolololoz
Nigerians are waiting briefings from the right agencies on the meaning of these findings and their relevance (if any) to the corruption fight. If laws were broken and wrongs done, we hope there will be no sacred cows. On the other hand, if people have made their money through legitimate means, we should be mindful of impugning people’s character. My opinion.
Dangote is a big business man who does his transaction with high level of sense,respect and integrity.Panama or panama he is a patriotic Nigerian who operates with ethical standard.
May God strengthen you the more.
Hmmm, u see…… U can’t just compare yourself to the kids of these people. GOD please bless me according to your plan for my destiny.
BTW a lot of simple hard working not in social scenes Nigerians have shell companies.
Ibiza thanks for the correction. Iwant to know more. Tax evasion or tax avoidance please
Educate me the big difference between the two, and why you think one will Appreciate it once they learn more. I don’t mean to sound facetious i really wanna know. My whole thing is paying my taxes is not something I enjoy but I have no choice I have to pay it, so when I hear some rich folks are able to avoid it and not charged with it it bothers me. Why would the poor be jailed and not the top rich strategically stashing in offshore accounts in Panama and cayman islands. its like the rich are always protected. This iswhy iI really wanna learn more about compliance as well as money laundering. Are you certified? Cos if you do I have questions too.
By the way I still don’t believe no Americans are not on the list. It’s a lie. Legal or not legal I wanna know who they are.
I know right? why are there no Americans on the list? I wanna know too.
IRS and Co are no joke. Trying to hide from them is tough. So tough it just might not be worth it maybe.
When you start paying a huge chunk of your salary as taxes then you will understand more. When your annual tax bill 10yrs into your career can fund 3-5 people through university education in a place like London, you will realise it is not a joke. If at 10 yrs you are paying that much tax, you can imagine how much you will end up with by the time you retire.
Tax avoidance is paying the least amount of tax you can get away with. Like someone said, it is not illegal. It is hiring a professional to help to help you structure your portfolio to help you be more tax efficient. Take someone that earns 200k per year in the UK, they only take home 117k home after tax. Lets say, the person is super prudent and invested 100k in an asset (property/ shares). First they have to pay stamp duty on the asset they are buying (another tax) but it is all good. If they decide to sell said profit a few years on say for 200k, they will pay 28% tax. If however, they dont sell it and then they die and willed it to their children.
Assuming, their main house of residence ate into their nil rate band (which is usually the case for most), your family will have to pay 40% tax on the asset you acquired using income you already paid tax on. If they cant afford the tax payment on this, they will have to sell the asset to pay the tax bill.
If a tax adviser told you that your offspring wont have to pay inheritance tax if you set up a trust fund or bought your asset under a shell company?
Or what if they said, if you earned your salary as an independent contractor (doing same job) you will only pay 20% income tax and most of your expenses will be deductible? As you earn more money and pay more tax, it becomes financially responsible for you to hire a tax professional to structure your portfolio. Govt know that they have no legal grounds on these people/ organisations (they can obviously change the law but they dont) so they pick a few people and shame them by media trial into paying more tax or tarnishing their rep.
Tax avoidance is not evasion.
PS: I think they should change the name to tax structuring/ management becuz that is a better description but unfortunately, that wont sell news
Thank you Larz, you couldn’t have said it better. If I have a way to legally reduce the amount of tax I can pay, I would definitely use it ( for now I stick to the simple ones – Gift aid, additional AVC contributions etc). It is bad enough being in the 40% tax band and knowing any additional income you make by the side would automatically be taxed at that rate. On top of it at the end of it all there is inheritance tax and what not, it’s frustrating. 5p bag charge. Sugar tax. Council tax. Road tax. Capital gains tax. All manners of tax. I def do not blame anyone seeking to reduce their tax bill after all we didn’t come to this world to work our ass out for the govt.
The issue with Nigerian politicians using tax havens is majority are simply hiding stolen money, whilst the businessmen using tax havens is more for tax reasons (which is legal, though some people would say it is not moral) .
Thanks for educating me Lara. I learn something new every day.
In my opinion, Inheritance tax and CGT are one of the purest forms of evil on the ordinary working man.
And I can see some reason as to why large corporations are told to drop a share of their capital gains with Mr. Taxman… but look at the individual working to increase their humble income. Mr. Taxman already skims off 25%-40% off their 9-5 salary, then waits for them to identify any small, money-making opportunity by the side (such as selling shares, house, even certain values of jewellery kwa) and returns to collect CGT on top anything which smells like financial gain.
Then he’ll retreat to his corner to wait for one wealthy family member to die so that he can fine the same people again for inheritance tax. Haba! Sometimes, I feel like we’re constantly landing on that spot on the monopoly board – you know the one after you pass “GO!” and you’ve collected your £200, then you land there and the entire £200 is taken from you? Na so this Mr. Taxman levels just dey… ??
@Ephi, that 5p bag charge…. I have vexed at shop tills and stuffed certain purchases in my coat pockets, rather than pick up a bag.
And I’m all for the move to save the environment by stopping unnecessary plastic waste (especially for those people who’ll buy 1 single Tom-Tom sweet and still collect plastic carrier bag from the cashier) … But can’t the rule be applied with reason? If customers spend over a certain threshold, why can’t the sales industry lobby the govt. so that those customers get complimentary bags? That’ll incentivise the public to maybe think of bulk shopping for household items more often, thereby reducing road traffic, saving fuel, moving more items off the shop shelves, etc. However, British businesses never think like that – you’ll see someone in a retail store spending a few hundred pounds, you still hear the cashier asking them to pay 5p for carrier bags… ?
I’m done giving out 5p for plastic bags, make dem use my council tax take maintain that environmental ethic.
Dangote is only trying to avoid paying hefty taxes. We all know that’s the largest financial expense we all make in this world. And Every rich smart person seeks ways to legally use loopholes to reduce or avoid it.