Tight-lipped contractors come and go, leaving locals scratching their heads. Stories swirling around the area suggest the 12,000ha game farm beyond is being turned into an exclusive hunting resort \u2014 some say for a Saudi royal \u2014 on which large private jets will be able to land. One person claims workers use a tunnel to gain access to the complex without being seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of what may be wild rumour, one thing is clear: the enterprise, and especially its ownership, is shrouded in secrecy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AmaBhungane\u2019s investigation into this little-known game farm called Ekland \u2014 drawing on the leaked Panama and Paradise papers, among other sources \u2014 has led to a complex global network of middlemen, proxy directors and offshore companies that\u2019s seemingly geared to shield the Saudi royal family\u2019s immense wealth from public scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It suggests Ekland is ultimately controlled by that country\u2019s notorious crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi Arabian embassy in Pretoria and Saudi foreign affairs ministry did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murky ownership<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
When amaBhungane visited Ekland in January, there was a frenzy of activity around the perimeter fence. But those working at the farm, including two young hunting specialists, were cagey about the owners and plans for the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A less guarded contractor separately said the farm \u2014 on which game lodges have operated for nearly two decades \u2014 was previously owned by a prominent Spaniard and had been sold about three years ago to \u201csome Saudis\u201d. Deeds records show Ekland consists of more than a dozen farms and farm portions acquired since 1999 by Manupont 124, a local shelf company registered that same year.<\/p>\n\n\n
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But who is behind Manupont?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farm manager Graham Moon will say no more than that the shareholder is Willow Ltd, \u201ca Cayman company that has been set up to hold investments globally\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Records show Willow is indeed registered in the Cayman Islands \u2014 a known haven for corporate anonymity and tax avoidance. Moon will also not identify recent guests. \u201cIt is our policy to respect our guests\u2019 right to privacy and as such we do not comment on any individuals who may have visited the property,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is standard practice in the global luxury industry.\u201d Moon does, however, offer a press release<\/a>, which paints Ekland as providing \u201ca bespoke, sole-use, super luxury safari experience [for] discerning guests\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It says: \u201cThe core ambitions of Ekland are \u2026 to provide the most secure sanctuary for Africa\u2019s incredible wildlife \u2026 as well as to provide guests with an intimate experience in the African bush while allowing for complete privacy and confidentiality \u2026 it aims to become the preferred employer for the surrounding communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The release notes that Ekland is under-going a significant upgrade to \u201cdeliver to the refined tastes of the luxury market\u201d. It will, it says, expand to more than 20,000ha and create more than 200 permanent positions \u201cthrough a significant investment programme on the property\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A better sense of what is planned can be gleaned from the range of assessments required for such developments \u2014 heritage, paleontological and environmental impact assessments. These show that an area more than 3km long will be set aside for an airstrip \u2014 a size that aviation experts say is long enough to land large jet aircraft, including Boeing 747s. The plan includes 20 \u201cexecutive villas\u201d to accommodate visitors \u201cupon invitation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It aims to provide \u201cthe ultimate bespoke safari experience\u201d for high net worth clients, including tailored hunting experiences. Back to who owns Manupont: the company provided its share register after a tug of war that included applying under the Companies Act and the sheriff being sent to affix a notice to Ekland\u2019s main gate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What the register shows is that Manupont\u2019s full ownership was transferred to Willow only on February 24 \u2014 about a month after amaBhungane began asking questions, and four days after the sheriff paid his visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manupont\u2019s previous owner was Eight Investment, a company with an address in the diplomatic quarter of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That company has cropped up before, in a New York Times<\/em> expos\u00e9 based on the Panama<\/a> and Paradise<\/a> papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These two troves of leaked corporate records<\/a> were obtained by the S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung<\/a>, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<\/a>, of which amaBhungane is a member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The records have helped lift the shroud of secrecy over the inner workings of offshore law firms that take advantage of tax havens and jurisdictions with deliberately weak transparency laws to help corporations and high net worth clients avoid tax, conceal ownership structures and ensure financial transactions are kept discreet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Times<\/em> story linked Prince Mohammed to the purchase of a $300-million French chateau \u2014 \u201cthe world\u2019s most expensive home\u201d \u2014 using Eight Investment and a layer of other offshore entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper quoted corporate records, saying Eight Investment was \u201cowned by members of the Saudi royal family\u201d and its \u201cwealth is derived from the king and the state\u201d. The same company was used in the purchase of the prince\u2019s 134m luxury yacht, Serene, from Russian tycoon Yuri Shefler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prince Mohammed reportedly bought the yacht on the spot while vacationing in southern France \u2014 for a staggering \u20ac420m. The article refers to one Thamer Nassief as the manager of Eight Investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On career networking site LinkedIn, he lists his position as head of the crown prince\u2019s private affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was also a director of Manupont from 2015 to February 2019 \u2014 roughly the same period t h at Eight Investment held Manupont, according to company records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another Manupont director, Hans Cauchi, was involved in renovating Prince Mohammed\u2019s chateau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Described as \u201ca Maltese hospitality executive who caters to the superwealthy\u201d, Cauchi joined Nassief as a director in Manupont on January 1 2016. Unlike Nassief, he remains a director, despite the transfer of ownership to Willow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane attempted to reach Nassief through Ekland\u2019s management and his previous employers, but received no response. Cauchi did not respond to messages sent via e-mail and his LinkedIn account, though Moon confirmed Cauchi had seen these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for Willow, amaBhungane was unable to confirm who the ultimate beneficial owner is, but there is evidence of continuity despite Manupont changing hands: Cauchi remains a director, Moon remains manager of the project, and the same development plans remain in place. In February, Nassief was replaced as Manupont director by Saudi national Yazeed Mohammed Alsaeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane was unable to verify his identity, but there is a Yazeed Alsaeed on LinkedIn whose profile says he has worked as a legal adviser to Saudi government entities and a private equity firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It may well be that the transfer of Manupont to Willow in February aimed to restore ownership secrecy, which was compromised when Eight Investment\u2019s link to the Saudi royal family was made known, and that Prince Mohammed remains the ultimate owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An offshore empire Evidence from the Panama Papers reveals a web of overlapping connections between Manupont directors and the Saudi royal family going back to 1999, when Ekland was established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The identity of the Spanish person who supposedly owned Ekland through Manupont before Prince Mohammed\u2019s Eight Investment took it over would seem to firm up that royal connection. About 10 years after Ekland was established the lodge was charging visitors $950 a night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A travel journalist, \u201cawestruck by the grandeur\u201d of the \u201ccolonial-style resort\u201d, would write a glowing review of Ekland and its \u201cbaobab trees silhouetted against a sky painted in pastel shades of pink and purple\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That same article referred to Ekland\u2019s owner as \u201ca Spanish hunter and chief executive of an international interior design company\u201d. Neither Ekland manager Moon nor his predecessor, Wulf Schwerdtfeger, would say who the \u201cSpanish hunter\u201d was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it appears to have been Mohamed Eyad Kayali, a wealthy Spanish-Syrian businessman with strong Saudi ties. Kayali\u2019s architecture and interior design company, Euroamykasa, is housed in a moneyed Madrid neighbourhood. It specialises in \u201ctechnical services of luxury architecture, decorating mansions and chalets\u201d for \u201cArab sheikhs and businessmen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Euroamykasa that held Manupont\u2019s shares before they passed to Eight Investment in October 2015, the Manupont share register shows. And company records show that Kayali and his son Yawan, the chief executive of Euroamykasa, were directors of Manupont until 2015, when Nassief took over, later joined by Cauchi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane sent questions to Kayali through his company, but received no response despite repeated attempts to follow up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kayali appears to prefer a relatively low profile as a behind-the-scenes fixer and consultant for both Spanish and Saudi royals, but his name and face were splashed across the Spanish press in 2012, when stories emerged of a controversial hunting excursion to Botswana by Spanish king Juan Carlos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Media reports said the king had been the guest of Kayali, described as a \u201cclose\u201d and \u201cintimate\u201d friend of the king\u2019s, and as part of the inner circle of the Saudi royal family. The Panama Papers show that Kayali was appointed director, or given power of attorney, in a basket of companies registered in Panama and the British Virgin Islands, and linked to the Saudi royal family\u2019s sprawling business empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two of his Euroamykasa colleagues were also given power of attorney in some of the companies. These companies were mainly used to house assets \u2014 properties in Spain and London, a luxury yacht \u2014 on behalf of prominent Saudi royals.<\/p>\n\n\n Among the companies for which Kayali was given power of attorney is Almack Properties<\/a>, registered in Panama. The share register provided to amaBhungane claims Euroamykasa owned Manupont from its registration and Ekland\u2019s establishment in 1999, to the transfer to Eight Investments in 2015. In contrast, the Panama papers show Almack owned Manupont, with Euroamykasa taking it over in 2001, for $2-million<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But who owned Almack?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1999, Almack issued four shares with a nominal value of $100 each. The shareholders were anonymous because the shares were issued as bearer shares, which confer ownership on whoever holds the physical copy of the share. Because of their potential use in money laundering and tax evasion, bearer shares are treated with suspicion globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the case of Almack, they obscured the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner. But there are business relationships and ownership structures that firm up the link between Kayali, Almack and Saudi royals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Correspondence<\/a> in the Panama Papers shows Almack to have been incorporated alongside another company, Verse Development, for a single UK-based corporate services provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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