ROAD TOWN, Tortola, BVI, 12th March 2011 - According to reports reaching VINO coming out of the United Kingdom capital city London, a small group calling themselves “Topple The Tyrants” occupied the £10m house in Hampstead Garden Suburb in north London on Wednesday March 9, 2011.
However, there is confusion as to which of the Overseas British Territories (OT) manages the property. Many Financial Online news and London and European newspapers, including the Guardian have said the house and property are managed by a company based in the Cayman Islands.
But other newspapers and the BBC Caribbean report have claimed that the property is managed by a company based in the British Virgin Islands (VI).
Efforts to reach top government officials in the Cayman Islands were not fruitful with calls been sent to many different government departments.
However, VINO spoke with a senior VI Government official who spoke on the matter condition of anonymity. She said, “there are Libyan Companies registered in the VI, however, that does not mean any of them are necessarily associated with the house reportedly own by Gaddafi’s son in London.”
Some of the VI top elected officials have also learned of the issue from the BBC Caribbean report aired earlier in the week.
The Virgin Islands’ Government of Premier Ralph T. O’Neal OBE, has continued to work hard to guard its good name and reputation both locally and internationally and hope that this article and its confusion as to who manages the Gaddafi family property in London does not cast any unnecessary aspersion on the good name of the VI.
The VI remains a leading jurisdiction for company registration because of its extremely clean record, stable government, modern laws, reputation for transparency, and many international agreements on tax exchanges with other nations all over the world including the European Union, USA, Canada, and the Caribbean region to name a few.
The UK government has announced last week that they have frozen assets owned by Gaddafi’s family and called for the dictator to step down after a civil war broke out in which some reports have said Gaddafi and his sons killed and slaughtered his own people.
The UK Treasury Department has not confirmed the value of the Gaddafi family assets that it has frozen, but reports suggest a figure of well over £1bn.
Article taken from Virgin Islands News Online - http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com
British Virgin Islands News