Once companies have been formed, paper trials created and money moved, these new companies can be used to purchase assets, join funds or take loans.
So, lets take an example;
Mr X from Outer Mongolia has got his hands on £5m. He's used a Trust/Formation agent to siphon that 💸
- into a newly created offshore vehicle with a fresh identity & little transparency
Maybe Mr X has a mate (Mr Y) who he knew or was introduced to by these connectors
The money flows around & suddenly a new co. has £10m in cash - They're liquid & ready to roll 💸
Next step...
Create a legend, manage to get additional finance (loans) & bingo! We have enough to talk to English ⚽️ clubs about a takeover.
Problem being, there is no real ongoing business or revenue streams behind this new pot of 💰 so when Mr X & Mr Y get their hands on a club, what now?
Well, running a ⚽️ club is expensive (and often loss making) but they do have revenue streams & assets.
So, let's get some more loans to start with
Banks are wary, so for example, lets go to Mr Samuelson's friend in the British Virgin Islands #Vibrac
Secretive, but we know...
Vibrac is owned by Michael Tabor
Done well out of Gambling & investment
Is big friends with - Joe Lewis [Spurs], Robert Earle [x Everton], Philip Green [💸] John Magneir & JP McManus [Horse racing & Man U fame] & others in the Sandy Lane crew! ⬇️
Mr Tabor is willing to loan...
Act as the bank, because it's his £ underwriting the loan and he understands football club finances (you make fat returns % if the loan is paid off on schedule & if it isn't you secure against saleable assets - Players/Grounds etc)
Mr Green/EFC 🧐
So we've now got a chain💸⚽️
Shady Money ➡️ Obscured & legitimised by Offshore/Trust agent (they take fees 💸) ➡️ People behind shady money acquire football club (there may also be a 'front man' involved to further obscure the picture & again, Formation agent takes a fee 💸) ➡️ Loans to run the club...
(Again, back offshore to our friendly finance provider & you guessed it, offshore formation agent/broker takes a fee 💸).
Now, servicing those loans is expensive & without promotion to the Premier League or big player trading profits, you need to find some more 💸 from somewhere
So, you look to investment schemes/finance.
-Commercial property fractional share sales (See Bury FC, Lendy, Car Park space sales etc)
-VAT Carousel Tax Fraud
-Ponzi schemes
It starts to get very murky!
Mr X & Mr Y realise the game is up, siphon as much cash out of the club b4
The the inevitable 'cash crunch'!
No problem though, because guess what?!
After an exhaustive search our Offshore/Trust/Agent/Broker has found a new investor.
Rinse, Repeat & the broker gets a fee 💸
There's actually a final part to these scams (liquidators/administrators)
They can also be part of the mechanics - Just look at some of the characters involved
Football clubs are like spigots that various nefarious characters can plug into and drain cash from until they cant anymore and move on
Hot bed of fraud = Bury, Wigan, Birmingham City, Villa..
Despite massive numbers in revenues💰💱 Football clubs are so bloated, the top guys feel they need more!
For long term planning, they need control of the rules of competition too.
The huge swathes of capital hoarded by the investment banks/rich are willing to fund this new comp
The #PremierLeague will end up a place for the 'Elite' teams in the new #EuropeanSuperLeague to play their so called reserve squads - Because the rewards on offer merit that.
That said, with the huge revenues they will dominate, those reserve squads will still be the best ⚽️🤯💁
3/ In the film, #Immobiliare is a real estate vehicle owned by the Vatican & #DonCorleone wants to buy-in with his ill gotten gains & create a European conglomerate that will elevate the family for generations to come
Now for the obvious (& not so obvious) parallels with reality
The two 'Shadow Brokers' who get fleeting mentions over the last 15 years as the cast of foreign ownership in English football has become increasingly... 'cosmopolitan' are;
*Chris Samuelson* & *Andrew Obolensky*
Who are they?
What do they do??
Why should we care???
3/
Well, they've appeared in a few books I've read over the years, so I did some searches to try and understand more & connect the dots.
In the run up to the #USPresidentialElections2020 when the characters & stories seem more mind-boggling than ever, it can be difficult to discern...
'How the fuck did the world end up here'?