PanamaPapers: Ex-Nigeria Senate President, David Mark, illegally operates secret companies in tax haven

Nigeria’s immediate past Senate President, David Mark, has links to at least eight offshore shell companies while holding public office, in violation of a federal code of conduct law, a massive leak of files belonging to Mossack Fonseca, a law firm in Panama, shows.

The files show how Mossack Fonseca, reputed as one of the most secretive companies in the world, helped clients register offshore entities, some of which are then used to launder money, evade tax and dodge sanctions.

They also provide details of the hidden financial dealings of 128 more politicians and public officials around the world, including in Nigeria.

The trove of 11.5 million files shows how a global industry of law firms and big banks sells financial secrecy to politicians, fraudsters and drug traffickers as well as billionaires, celebrities and sports stars.

Mr. Mark and his secret companies

The Mosseca Fonseca database shows that Mr. Mark is one of Nigeria’s most extensive users of offshore shell companies, even while being a public official.

In documents, Mr. Mark was linked to eight active companies registered in the British Virgin Island.

They are Sikera Overseas S.A, Colsan Enterprises Limited, Goldwin Transworld Limited, Hartland Estates Limited, Marlin Holdings Limited, Medley Holdings Limited, Quetta Properties Limited, and Centenary Holdings Limited.

In the documents, Mr. Mark was repeatedly marked as a politically exposed person, and at a point the former Senate President had to send documents, across to Mosseca Fonseca to prove that he was clean.

It remains unclear what businesses Mr. Mark is conducting with the companies.

While not all owners or operators of such offshore entities are criminals, owning or maintaining interest in private companies while serving as a public official is against Nigerian laws.

Section 6(b) of the Code of Conduct Act says a public office holder shall not, “except where he is not employed on full‐time basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade”.

In a previous investigation , Mr. Mark’s estranged wife, Vikky Preye Mark, was also exposed as an operator of secret offshore accounts.

Mrs. Mark operated an account with the Swiss branch of HSBC, but with details made largely secret.

Although she was known within the bank as the beneficial owner of the account, she was largely identified with a secret code – 14312MP.

Mrs. Mark opened the account on December 18, 1989 and closed it on July 12, 1991. About that time, her husband, then a top ranking army officer, had served as military administrator of Niger State and federal minister of communications, a period during which he is believed to have made a fortune.

Court papers during a messy divorce with his wife suggested that some of Mr. Mark’s children schooled in Switzerland, but it is not clear whether it was during that period that Mrs. Mark operated the HSBC account.

The court papers also showed that the Marks operated foreign accounts elsewhere.

About six million pounds in four accounts – three at the Northern Bank, Isle of Man, and one at the Allied Irish Bank, Jersey – were frozen in October 2000 as a result of the ancillary relief sought by Victoria Mark in the couple’s divorce case.