🔴 Our reporter @Gareth_Davies09 has spent the past THREE YEARS working to bring our latest investigation to light
Strap in for a 🧵 revealing an insane story that many people didn’t want us to tell – the mystery of one businessman and a missing £138m 💷
thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-0…
Strap in for a 🧵 revealing an insane story that many people didn’t want us to tell – the mystery of one businessman and a missing £138m 💷
thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-0…
This is Liam Kavanagh.
He owns a solar empire bought and paid for in large part by the taxpayer, and has been living the sort of life most of us can only dream of 💭
He owns a solar empire bought and paid for in large part by the taxpayer, and has been living the sort of life most of us can only dream of 💭
Flying around the world in his private jet? ✅
A 200-acre estate? ✅
A fleet of supercars? ✅
A 200-acre estate? ✅
A fleet of supercars? ✅
But where does his story start?
On a windswept solar farm in Swindon, pitching a tasty investment opportunity to councils desperate for a new source of income.
On a windswept solar farm in Swindon, pitching a tasty investment opportunity to councils desperate for a new source of income.
Over the course of four years, Kavanagh’s companies received a STAGGERING £655m from @thurrockcouncil, a borough just east of London.
Most of the money was used to buy solar farms, and generated millions in extra income for the council 💷
Most of the money was used to buy solar farms, and generated millions in extra income for the council 💷
But our investigation reveals some serious flaws that threaten to cost the public hundreds of millions of ££..
And the holes we’ve found lead directly back to Kavanagh’s companies ⬇️
And the holes we’ve found lead directly back to Kavanagh’s companies ⬇️
We first wrote about this in 2020, but Kavanagh didn’t think much of it…
We know this because we’ve heard a conversation he had in a car at the time – he didn’t know he was being recorded by a dashcam ⏺️
thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-0…
We know this because we’ve heard a conversation he had in a car at the time – he didn’t know he was being recorded by a dashcam ⏺️
thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-0…
What else did he say during this conversation?
That he needed to “get rid” of the businesses that owed taxpayers more than half a billion pounds.
Kavanagh 🗣️ “I’m not bothered now, I’m never going to raise a pound from a local authority again.”
That he needed to “get rid” of the businesses that owed taxpayers more than half a billion pounds.
Kavanagh 🗣️ “I’m not bothered now, I’m never going to raise a pound from a local authority again.”
So who at @thurrockcouncil was having direct dealings with Kavanagh?
Enter this man, Sean Clark. He’s Thurrock’s finance director. 👇
Enter this man, Sean Clark. He’s Thurrock’s finance director. 👇
Kavanagh and Clark met several times at the five-star May Fair Hotel – there are no public records of these meetings (we’ve checked).
But it was after them, between late 2018 and early 2019, that Thurrock injected a further £138m into Kavanagh’s companies.
But it was after them, between late 2018 and early 2019, that Thurrock injected a further £138m into Kavanagh’s companies.
Four years later, and @thurrockcouncil still has no idea where that additional investment has gone.
During that period where his companies received the extra £138m, Kavanagh’s lifestyle appeared to get even more lavish…💰
The private jet he regularly used cost around £10m 🛫
He lived in a country estate purchased for £20 million in December 2020 (the trust company which paid for it was set up the day before one of the solar farm deals) 🏠
He lived in a country estate purchased for £20 million in December 2020 (the trust company which paid for it was set up the day before one of the solar farm deals) 🏠
There’s also a fleet of luxury cars worth millions of pounds and properties in a number of countries around the world 🚗
🔴 There is no evidence to suggest any of the purchases and spending were illegal.
🔴 There is no evidence to suggest any of the purchases and spending were illegal.
🗣️ “This is a scandal of huge proportions, and we need to know what has gone so disastrously wrong.”
The words of @TheJohnKent, leader of Thurrock council’s Labour group.
The words of @TheJohnKent, leader of Thurrock council’s Labour group.
Want to help us do more forensic, long-term investigative journalism like this? You can become a Bureau supporter here ⬇️
thebureauinvestigates.com/support-us
thebureauinvestigates.com/support-us
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