:00:11. > :00:20.early as next year. US forces will switch to providing training.
:00:20. > :00:26.It is time for Panorama. A Caribbean building boom that
:00:26. > :00:31.seems like it would last for ever. They seemed to be resort's opening
:00:31. > :00:40.everywhere, champagne flowing like water. When the bubble burst, these
:00:40. > :00:46.people lost a fortune. Is it a big hole in your pocket? What is a
:00:46. > :00:52.bankrupt construction company -- what does a bankrupt construction
:00:52. > :00:59.company have to do with a laud. Nothing at all he would have the
:00:59. > :01:04.belief. We have concluded that Lord Ashcroft is pulling the strings.
:01:04. > :01:08.Tonight, we reveal how one of the most influential figures in the
:01:08. > :01:16.Conservative Party misled the stock market by keeping parliament in the
:01:16. > :01:26.dark. If he was secretly control and the company, it would be very
:01:26. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :01:47.This is a story about a secretive billionaire who has given more than
:01:47. > :01:52.�10 million to the Conservative Party. He is possibly the biggest
:01:52. > :01:59.political donor in British history. His cash held put David Cameron in
:01:59. > :02:03.power. It is unclear where most of his money comes from, because his
:02:03. > :02:09.business affairs are hidden behind a maze of offshore companies.
:02:09. > :02:16.Nobody has found a way through until now. It has taken more than
:02:16. > :02:24.two back years of research, but we have under covert a -- have
:02:24. > :02:29.uncovered a secret. A secret he has gone to great lengths to hide. Who
:02:30. > :02:39.is Lord Ashcroft and why do his business dealings matter? He has
:02:39. > :02:45.been a peer of the round since the year 2000. Hide Michael, Lord
:02:45. > :02:51.Ashcroft. He was nominated by the Foreign Secretary. He has been
:02:51. > :02:55.treasurer and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. At the last
:02:55. > :03:02.election, his tax status became a major issue when he was forced to
:03:02. > :03:07.admit he had not been paying for UK tax on his worldwide earnings. It
:03:07. > :03:15.did not stop David Cameron appointing him to review military
:03:15. > :03:21.bases in Cyprus. He has been worth the most important figures of the
:03:21. > :03:28.Conservative Party for the last decade. He has gone into publishing,
:03:28. > :03:33.he is into the internet, he is a hugely influential figure. As well
:03:33. > :03:38.as finding the Tories, it also gives money to good causes. When I
:03:38. > :03:46.started Crimestoppers 23 years ago, I could never have imagined such
:03:46. > :03:54.the incredible success but the charity would enjoy. He has donated
:03:54. > :04:00.around �10 million to a year it -- to a university. Here he is
:04:00. > :04:09.presenting an honour or -- an honorary degree to Kadi Minogue.
:04:09. > :04:15.Two weeks ago he offered a �5 million towards a new royal yacht.
:04:15. > :04:19.He started with a simple cleaning company, but his business empire
:04:19. > :04:25.now stretches around the world. Most of his money has been made in
:04:25. > :04:31.offshore tax havens. A strange world where nothing is quite as it
:04:32. > :04:37.seems. Even the experts cannot work out what is going on. It is very
:04:37. > :04:42.difficult to follow and unravel and understand. There are numerous
:04:42. > :04:46.companies. The offshore companies do not publish accounts, they did
:04:46. > :04:53.not filed information with any regulators. It becomes impossible
:04:53. > :05:03.to unravel and understand. We have been investigating one particular
:05:03. > :05:08.business. It is a highly controversial business. The
:05:08. > :05:14.evidence we have is that Lord Ashcroft has deliberately misled
:05:14. > :05:24.the public about his involvement. The story starts in the place he
:05:24. > :05:31.
:05:31. > :05:36.called home. We are off to the Caribbean. The Turks and Caicos
:05:36. > :05:46.Islands is a British overseas territory. A playground for the
:05:46. > :05:47.
:05:47. > :05:52.wealthy and a tax haven. For years, Johnston International was the
:05:52. > :05:57.biggest construction company here. It built everything from roads and
:05:57. > :06:04.homes to hospitals and luxury of results. Lord Ashcroft knows this
:06:04. > :06:08.place well. He set up were the biggest banks here. People on the
:06:08. > :06:12.island. He controlled the construction company as well. Is
:06:12. > :06:18.not difficult to see why people thought there was a connection
:06:18. > :06:23.between Lord Ashcroft and Johnston International. This is his bank,
:06:23. > :06:28.the company was based upstairs. Almost everybody we spoke to
:06:28. > :06:38.thought that Lord Ashcroft was the man behind Johnstone. He sold the
:06:38. > :06:41.company he is a go. In 1999, Lord Ashcroft announced the sale of
:06:41. > :06:46.Johnstone at the London Stock Exchange. The City thought it was
:06:46. > :06:52.no longer anything to do with him. There are strict rules about this
:06:52. > :06:57.kind of announcement. The essence of six at the track successful
:06:57. > :07:05.markets is that participants are honest. There are ex -- disclosure
:07:05. > :07:13.rules in all markets. There are reports of roles this -- related to
:07:13. > :07:18.disclosure. Participants expect an honest disclosure. As far as East
:07:19. > :07:23.upmarket was concerned, Lord Ashcroft was no longer involved.
:07:23. > :07:33.Parliament bought the same. He has never said a word to suggest
:07:33. > :07:33.
:07:33. > :07:37.otherwise. We have to register called relative interests which may
:07:37. > :07:46.influence Arab parliamentary actions. It is an important
:07:46. > :07:51.principle, not just whether they have those influences, or were they
:07:51. > :07:55.a regional person could think they would. In the Caribbean we found
:07:55. > :08:01.out more about Lord Ashcroft's relationship with Johnston
:08:01. > :08:05.International. We spoke with former employees who were told one after
:08:05. > :08:15.he sold the company that he was still in charge. They were afraid
:08:15. > :08:17.
:08:17. > :08:21.to speak on camera. 0 Ashcroft has a reputation for sending people.
:08:21. > :08:25.was told Lord Ashcroft had all too much control. People would report
:08:25. > :08:34.to him in meetings and said they had to run things past him. They
:08:34. > :08:38.would refer to him as Michael Ashcroft and also by his initials.
:08:38. > :08:46.No-one was under any illusions as to who that was. It was very clear
:08:46. > :08:56.that that was Lord Ashcroft. most of the last decade, the
:08:56. > :08:57.
:08:57. > :09:02.builders had plenty of work. This video shows his yacht moored at
:09:03. > :09:08.side for a launch party of a resort. Deep resort was opened by the
:09:08. > :09:16.premier of the islands. He wanted his country to become the Monte
:09:16. > :09:23.Carlo of the Caribbean. We have the world's best beaches, Areva waters
:09:23. > :09:29.are magical and turquoise. We cannot wait to see all of you here.
:09:29. > :09:32.It was party time. Developers have flocked to cash in. There was
:09:32. > :09:36.resorts opening everywhere. Everyone has tried to outdo
:09:36. > :09:42.everyone else and having a big party. The champagne was flowing
:09:42. > :09:46.like water, it was a great place to be living. He wondered how it was
:09:46. > :09:53.all going to be sustainable. What happened next was a political
:09:53. > :09:58.scandal. In two dozen and nine, this man resigned following
:09:58. > :10:07.allegations that he and fellow ministers were running a corrupt
:10:07. > :10:10.regime. They were accused of corruption on a massive scale.
:10:10. > :10:15.of the numbers that were thrown about where incomprehensible
:10:15. > :10:25.amounts of money. The amount of money at the premiere was spending
:10:25. > :10:27.
:10:27. > :10:37.on herself. A public inquiry investigated the allegations. It
:10:37. > :10:37.
:10:38. > :10:45.concluded that there was a higher probability pop systemic corruption.
:10:45. > :10:52.The deputy Leader of the Opposition party has faced unrelated
:10:52. > :10:57.corruption allegations himself. He said the inquiry was an eye-opener.
:10:57. > :11:03.The level of Ms -- ministerial involvement in ravaged land
:11:03. > :11:11.transactions and the level of money that was going through the bank
:11:12. > :11:20.accounts of some of the ministers, most people were shocked and most
:11:20. > :11:25.people were extremely surprised. The British government suspended
:11:25. > :11:30.the local parliament. The islands are now being run by the Foreign
:11:30. > :11:36.Office, headed up by a friend of Lord Ashcroft. British detectives
:11:36. > :11:43.are investigating corruption allegations. They have also frozen
:11:43. > :11:49.or all of the assets. They wanted know how he could afford a luxury
:11:49. > :11:56.mansion valued at $16 million. It was built in 2006 by Johnston
:11:56. > :12:01.International. That is the company where 14 former employees told us
:12:01. > :12:06.they thought Lord Ashcroft was still the boss. It is known locally
:12:06. > :12:11.as the White House. It has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, its own
:12:11. > :12:21.beach and a private dock. Even at the guest cottages have their own
:12:21. > :12:23.
:12:23. > :12:29.reflection polls. They had it all. A round-the-clock security, a major
:12:29. > :12:39.service and a butler service. The government itself was paying for it.
:12:39. > :12:49.It is a lot to spend. Two had and $50,000 a year, water for your Paul.
:12:49. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:54.-- $250,000. It represents a failed time in our political life. It was
:12:54. > :13:03.built by Johnston International. But that does not all. Most of the
:13:04. > :13:13.finance came from one of the company's its sister companies. It
:13:14. > :13:15.
:13:15. > :13:18.lends $4.2 million. The interest on the load was 12%. He was getting
:13:18. > :13:23.more than $500,000 Aryee in interest alone. There is no
:13:23. > :13:28.evidence that he ever paid anything back. It looks like he does not
:13:28. > :13:34.paying for the White House. Some who was in day-to-day charge of the
:13:34. > :13:39.Johnston Group when it funded the home? Achieve executive was this
:13:39. > :13:47.man. Through his solicitors, he told us that the building and
:13:47. > :13:52.financing of the mention was a legitimate transaction. He said the
:13:52. > :13:58.corruption investigation had found no findings towards it. He also
:13:58. > :14:03.said Bob Ashcroft has had no interest in the -- Lord Ashcroft
:14:03. > :14:10.has had no interest in the company for years. There was no doubt in my
:14:10. > :14:16.mind or any of the senior employees that he had seen your control. It
:14:16. > :14:22.was a security blanket. He has deep pockets. If whatever that slack,
:14:22. > :14:26.everybody assumed that the next pay cheque would be written. Board
:14:26. > :14:33.Ashcroft's lawyers made it very clear that he had no involvement in
:14:33. > :14:43.the building of the mansion. They also said: Our client has no
:14:43. > :14:46.
:14:46. > :14:51.beneficial or legal interest in the Johnston Group since 1999. It
:14:51. > :14:57.includes any company ultimately controlled by the claimed. That
:14:57. > :15:00.sounded like he was denying any involvement since 1999. And yet
:15:01. > :15:10.many employees were adamant that Lord Ashcroft was still the boss.
:15:11. > :15:12.
:15:12. > :15:18.Was Lord Ashcroft still in charge of Johnston as the employees claim?
:15:18. > :15:23.We have been trying to find out. But that is not easy. Johnston is
:15:23. > :15:29.owned by a series of companies based in different tax havens.
:15:29. > :15:34.This is complicated, but there with me. Johnston International is based
:15:34. > :15:44.in some islands. It is owned by a company based in the British Virgin
:15:44. > :15:52.
:15:52. > :16:00.Islands. It is owned by another company, and then another company.
:16:00. > :16:03.Why such a complicated set-up? is to keep prying eyes out. Each of
:16:03. > :16:10.sure there is a barrier to information. It will slow
:16:10. > :16:13.investigations down. Quite often, you cannot confirm, but you have
:16:13. > :16:20.the stronger suspicions about what has happened. But you cannot get
:16:20. > :16:26.the confirmation. Johnston's chief executive said there was nothing
:16:26. > :16:30.suspicious about the structure, and that it compliant -- complied with
:16:30. > :16:40.regulations. But it made it difficult for us to get any further.
:16:40. > :16:40.
:16:40. > :16:45.We had reached a dead end. We put out a programme about Lord Ashcroft
:16:45. > :16:52.in 2010. But because of his denials about Johnston, we did not mention
:16:52. > :16:57.the company. Other journalists who were also asking questions, that
:16:57. > :17:01.they decided to publish. The Independent newspaper received a
:17:01. > :17:06.similar denials about Lord Ashcroft but it ran the story anyway,
:17:06. > :17:16.linking him with Johnston and the mansion. Now he is suing the paper
:17:16. > :17:17.
:17:17. > :17:22.for libel. Michael Ashcroft is very litigious. It is very chilling if
:17:22. > :17:26.you probe into his business affairs. It is difficult to get to the
:17:26. > :17:34.bottom of it. If you get something wrong, he has got very deep pockets,
:17:34. > :17:39.and very sharp lawyer's. Lord Ashcott's threats of legal action
:17:39. > :17:43.close down the story linking him to the mansion. It might have stayed
:17:43. > :17:51.that way, if the company at the centre of it all had not close down
:17:51. > :18:01.as well. Johnston's workers were locked out without warning. It was
:18:01. > :18:01.
:18:01. > :18:07.unbelievable. We went to collect our wages. We picked the wages up
:18:07. > :18:12.and he called me to say the office is closed. Johnston's end was a
:18:13. > :18:20.messy one. It would -- it went down with debts of $30 million.
:18:20. > :18:30.Creditors have come to see if they can get any money back. We are
:18:30. > :18:32.
:18:33. > :18:42.chasing money. How much? Over 100,000, $120,000. Is it a big hole
:18:42. > :18:47.in your pocket? Ten News see the sun shining? It is a big hole.
:18:47. > :18:54.cash they were hoping for has already been cleaned. By Lord
:18:54. > :19:01.Ashcroft's Bank. There are a lot of frustrated people. People who are
:19:01. > :19:07.owed a great deal of money. Biggish Caribbean bank, Lord Ashcroft's
:19:07. > :19:12.Bank, has taken two million dollars who should have gone to the workers.
:19:12. > :19:20.The bank says the cash was security for loans, and that the security is
:19:20. > :19:25.a priority. The bank's legal advice is that the transfer of secured
:19:26. > :19:30.assets to BCB was entirely proper in every respect. But former
:19:30. > :19:40.employees had been left thousands of dollars out of pocket. It is a
:19:40. > :19:44.
:19:44. > :19:54.lot of money. We all need money. We have families, schools started a
:19:54. > :19:55.
:19:55. > :20:01.few months ago, and there is not much going on. I was looking
:20:01. > :20:06.forward to that money. It could have helped me out a lot.
:20:06. > :20:11.Back at Lord Ashcroft's Bank, there is another unhappy customer. Trish
:20:11. > :20:15.Johnson is an accountant. He has come to the island to wind up
:20:15. > :20:21.Johnston's parent company. It is called Oxford ventures and it has
:20:21. > :20:27.also gone bust. For the past year, he has been trying to get
:20:27. > :20:33.information about Oxford venture's bank account. But the bank will not
:20:33. > :20:40.help. I had sent numerous e-mails, letters by a courier, to the spade
:20:40. > :20:44.and also its sister bank. I have not had the courtesy of a response.
:20:44. > :20:50.It is outrageous they would not give me bank statements or loan
:20:50. > :20:55.agreements or guarantees. I am running Oxford. They are my banker.
:20:55. > :21:02.It is incredible. That a bank will not give his own client these
:21:02. > :21:06.documents. The bank's solicitors told us that laws on banking
:21:07. > :21:12.confidentiality, the bank could not respond to an overseas liquidator,
:21:12. > :21:17.to the court recognised the authority of that liquidator. Chris
:21:17. > :21:22.Johnson was recognised by the courts two months ago. But the bank
:21:22. > :21:27.has now started a legal challenge to his authority. The crucial
:21:27. > :21:32.question, is just who was the driving force behind the company at
:21:32. > :21:36.the centre of our investigation? Johnston and its parent Oxford
:21:36. > :21:41.ventures. Over the past year, we have obtained evidence that has
:21:41. > :21:48.convinced us that Lord Ashcroft was really in charge. We discovered
:21:48. > :21:56.that he had business meetings with the chief exec a bit -- chief
:21:56. > :22:01.executive. Sometimes he used a false name. He stayed here at this
:22:01. > :22:11.Ocean Club. But he did not use his real name for the reservation. He
:22:11. > :22:12.
:22:12. > :22:17.bought it as Mr Webster. Much about Lord Ashcroft, also known as Mr
:22:17. > :22:20.Webster, was shrouded in secrecy. It made it almost impossible to
:22:20. > :22:30.discover who controlled the Johnston and Oxford ventures. But
:22:30. > :22:30.
:22:30. > :22:34.last summer, we had a major breakthrough. We obtained evidence
:22:34. > :22:38.that finally cut through the corporate maze. Confidential
:22:38. > :22:46.internal documents that were never supposed to be seen. They showed
:22:46. > :22:51.who was really Paul Reid and the strings. -- pulling the strings. We
:22:51. > :22:59.have a bundle of faxes all written by Allan Forrest. They are
:22:59. > :23:05.addressed to MAA, also known as Michael Ashcroft. Former employees
:23:05. > :23:12.have told us the decisions were run past MAA, and he was the proof. The
:23:12. > :23:17.faxes were all written after Lord Ashcroft announced that he had left
:23:17. > :23:22.Johnston. They cover a seven-year period, and they are Britain on
:23:22. > :23:32.company business paper. He asked for Lord Ashcroft's instructions on
:23:32. > :23:38.
:23:38. > :23:42.major business projects. They were sent to Lord Ashcott's
:23:42. > :23:52.private numbers. He even wrote his instructions on some of the faxes
:23:52. > :24:00.
:24:00. > :24:05.and sent them back. We actually see copies of the faxes
:24:05. > :24:09.with Lord Ashcroft's handwriting on them. There are quite a number of
:24:09. > :24:15.faxes where Allan Forrest has gone to Lord Ashcroft and said, Look, we
:24:15. > :24:18.need some answers on this. It was probably discussed over the phone.
:24:18. > :24:28.A few have them have got handwritten comments by Lord
:24:28. > :24:32.Ashcroft. This is a bust selling his employee what to do. -- a boss
:24:32. > :24:37.telling his employee. He also refers to Lord Ashcroft as being
:24:37. > :24:41.his boss. Through his lawyers, Alan Forest told us that he has never
:24:41. > :24:46.provided Lord Ashcroft with any detailed report, nor asked him for
:24:46. > :24:50.instructions on major discussions. But this simply is not true. Our
:24:50. > :24:57.faxes show the chief executive is lying about Lord Ashcroft's
:24:57. > :25:06.involvement. In this one, Alan Forrest faxed Lord Ashcroft for a
:25:06. > :25:10.pay rise. Dear Michael, a short note to say thank you for the pay
:25:10. > :25:16.increase. A strange thing to say to someone who is not your boss. Alan
:25:16. > :25:21.Forrest denies that Lord Ashcroft had personally approved his pay and
:25:21. > :25:26.benefits. But we have got another fax, where he fenced Lord Ashcroft
:25:26. > :25:35.for a bonus worth $300,000. Then we obtained the most darning one of
:25:35. > :25:45.all. -- damning one. He wrote to Lord Ashcroft about Johnston's
:25:45. > :25:53.
:25:53. > :25:58.parent company, Oxford ventures. He Who do you think controls Johnston
:25:58. > :26:03.International and Oxford ventures? From what we sing, we have
:26:03. > :26:09.concluded that Lord Ashcroft is the driving force behind Oxford and all
:26:09. > :26:15.its come Guineas. -- companies. I have no doubt about it. He is
:26:15. > :26:19.behind it. We had evidence that will come to light in due course.
:26:19. > :26:24.Lord Ashgrove's lawyers, in response to our most recent
:26:24. > :26:31.questions, said he stood by any it -- every statement he has made to
:26:31. > :26:35.Panorama. Our client has never been all -- directly or indirectly, in
:26:35. > :26:41.part or in whole, and owner of Oxford ventures. But we were not
:26:41. > :26:45.asking him about ownership, we had asked whether he controlled Oxford
:26:45. > :26:53.ventures and Johnston International. And that is a question he has
:26:53. > :26:58.repeatedly avoided answering. That the investigation into corruption
:26:58. > :27:01.on the island is now gathering pace. Detectors have started looking at
:27:01. > :27:06.the role Johnston played in the construction of the former
:27:06. > :27:10.Premier's mansion. There is no suggestion that he is corrupt. But
:27:10. > :27:20.we think there are now grounds to investigate what he knows about the
:27:20. > :27:25.
:27:25. > :27:31.building and financing of the home. Back in the new gay -- the UK, our
:27:31. > :27:35.evidence is also it important. That the story is about to be raised in
:27:35. > :27:39.the British courts. We do not know why Lord Ashcroft has been
:27:39. > :27:43.deliberately concealing the truth. But we do know that the information
:27:43. > :27:47.that we have uncovered could prove to be very useful to the
:27:47. > :27:54.Independent, because it will provide new evidence in the paper's
:27:54. > :27:58.libel battle with Lord Ashcroft. It is not just the newspaper that will
:27:58. > :28:03.be interested in what we have discovered. Lord Ashcroft should
:28:03. > :28:10.have told the stock market that he was controlling Oxford and Johnston.
:28:10. > :28:14.Should he also have told parliament? The House of Lords did
:28:14. > :28:22.not have a specific rule about secretly controlling a company, but
:28:22. > :28:27.the spirit says clear. We have a duty to be open and honest about
:28:27. > :28:31.any private interests that might reasonably sought by a person, to
:28:31. > :28:36.affect our actions. If Lord Ashcroft was equally controlling
:28:36. > :28:43.the company, which he did not declare, that would be very serious
:28:44. > :28:50.indeed. It is not clear white or Ashcroft is being so secretive. --
:28:50. > :28:59.y Lord Ashcroft. It is not in keeping up with the government's
:28:59. > :29:01.demand for greater accountability and transparency. You cannot
:29:01. > :29:07.provide moral and intellectual leadership if you do not embrace
:29:07. > :29:11.the highest standards of public accountability. If you are a
:29:11. > :29:19.lawmaker or a public figure, you should be totally transparent. All
:29:19. > :29:23.your business affairs are out in the Open. The question now is