Botswana Court Judge Named in Panama Papers

Justice Ian Kirby, the President of the Botswana Court of Appeal,  has been named as one of the dozens of shareholders in seven British Virgin Islands-registered off-shore companies which were helped by Panamaian law firm Mossack Fonseca to use tax havens to hide their wealth.

The firms in which Kirby was involved held vast amounts of shares in offshore companies which held properties and had interests in commercial real estate in the United Kingdom.

“(Ian) Kirby was one of dozens of shareholders of seven British Virgin Islands companies. He first appeared in documents sent to Mossack Fonseca as a shareholder of Bellbrook Estates Limited in May 2005, while Kirby was attorney general of Botswana."

“Bellbrook Estates Limited carried out unspecified activities in the United Kingdom, according to a 2014 list by Mossack Fonseca of active companies for which it served as registered agent. Although specific details of the offshore companies in which Kirby held shares are not available, at least three of those BVI firms held properties, including commercial real estate, in the United Kingdom,” reads part of the Panama Papers published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

So far, Kirby has not denied being involved with the said offshore companies but says he and his wife were “persuaded” to invest portions of their savings in the hope of getting returns that would keep their investments “ahead” of inflation.