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The businessman receives 758 million euros from the Municipality for solar parks, but buys a private plane and yacht

2023-08-01 13:11:13Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The businessman receives 758 million euros from the Municipality for solar
Liam Kavanagh

The Borough Council of a small local government unit in Essex, Great Britain, has declared bankruptcy after wrongly investing more than half a billion pounds in the construction of photovoltaic parks.

The investment of £655 million of public funds for businessman Liam Kavanagh's solar park by Thurrock City Council in Grays has proved to be a waste of taxpayers' money.

English media reports that Kavanagh has used taxpayers' money to buy luxury clothing, but also a yacht, a private jet and expensive cars.

Leaked documents highlight how the businessman used council-allocated funds to make luxury expenses, but Kavanagh's lawyers claim all payments made were authorized and approved by his company's finance team and auditor.

Thurrock hoped the major investment in 53 solar parks would generate millions in revenue for the town, but the BBC and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed the value of the Rockfire company's farms had been inflated to attract further investment.

The investments were issued through a complex series of bonds. Payments then stopped because the value of the farms turned out to be lower than expected, with the council facing a £200m shortfall from the risky investment.

Gavin Cunningham, a former investigator at the Serious Fraud Office, said it is potentially misleading to provide incorrect energy prices.

The investigation found that when Rockfire revalued one of its solar farm portfolios in 2018, the company stated the energy price was £61.45 per MWh, despite the average price at the time being much lower, and hovering around 46 .92 pounds per MWh.

The businessman receives 758 million euros from the Municipality for solar

The investigation also found that Kavanagh was told by staff in 2020 that the average energy price was expected to be £41.70 per MWh, but he insisted that valuers were given the inflated price of £62 per MWh.

By 2018, Thurrock had invested more than half a billion pounds in the business, after inflated energy prices convinced the council to allocate a further £130 million to Rockfire, which was never invested in photovoltaic parks.

The documents discovered during the investigation show that 12 million of the second fund allocated for "Rockfire" went to the account of a company from which Kavanagh bought his private plane.

Meanwhile, there are also payments of 2 million pounds for his car "Bugatti Chiron" and 16 million pounds for the luxury yacht "Heureka". Meanwhile, £40 million went to a bank account coded "other".

Kavanagh also bought a diamond-encrusted Hublot watch, estimated to cost twice the price of an average house in Grays - the Essex town where Thurrock Council is based.

So, an e-mail the businessman sent in 2020 appears to show that he had always planned to spend the council's investment to fund his lavish lifestyle.

"These funds will be used to establish a new family investment office and build wealth for years to come. This has always been my plan," it says.

Meanwhile, Thurrock is just one of several councils in the UK that have faced financial problems since 2011, when local authorities were given more freedom to raise funds and invest.

Croydon, Slough and Woking are three of the units that have had to stop all non-essential spending after losing public funds on risky investments.


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