Hunt admits breaking rules over luxury flats
JEREMY HUNT breached anti-money laundering legislation brought in by his own government when he set up a company to buy seven luxury flats, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The Health Secretary, who has a personal fortune of more than £14million, initially failed to declare his 50 per cent interest in the firm to Companies House – a criminal offence punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison.
Mr Hunt also failed to disclose his interest in the property firm on the parliamentary register of members’ interests within the required 28 days.
He later corrected the errors. Last night he apologised after accepting the mistakes were “his responsibility”.
Mr Hunt retains the backing of Theresa May, after the Cabinet Office ruled he did not breach the Ministerial Code of Conduct, but he could still face investigation by the Commons committee on standards and privileges.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “Jeremy has rightly apologised for an administrative oversight, and as the Cabinet Office has made clear there has been no breach of the Ministerial Code. We consider the matter closed.”
A former MPS watchdog said that if he did not “face consequences” it could create a “perception of double standards” that ministers were not held to account in the same way as the public.
Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the committee on standards in public life, said: “It is a very poor show when ministers, who you expect to take leadership in standards and public life, do not meet the rules they are required to meet. If there has been a failure of leadership, there should be a political price for it.” If Mr Hunt did not face consequences for errors made in Companies House records, this could suggest “one rule for the political elite and another rule for the rest of the population or the business sector,” Sir Alistair said.
Mr Hunt’s breaches relate to seven flats he bought with mortgages in the Ocean Village complex in Southampton on Feb 7. They were bought 13 months after it was reported that he made £14.5 million from the sale of Hotcourses, an education listing firm.
The mortgages were issued by a private bank to Mare Pond Properties Limited, a company set up by Mr Hunt and Lucia Guo, his wife. Ms Guo was the only person named in the registration documents filed at Companies House when the company was incorporated in September 2017.
Mr Hunt appears to have breached the Companies Act on two counts. Firstly, he should have declared to Companies House that he was a “Person with Significant Control” (PSC) within 28 days of registering the company, but did not do so for six months.
Legislation drafted in 2015 and made law a year later made this compulsory for anyone with more than 25 per cent of shares or voting rights in a company. The law was a central part of the Tories’ plan to tackle money laundering. Failure to comply is a criminal offence under the Companies Act, punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison.
The second breach relates to the fact that the September 2017 registration document was incorrect in its omission of Mr Hunt, a criminal offence under another section of the Companies Act.
His parliamentary rule breach relates to the Code of Conduct for
MPS. All MPS must register any shareholding greater than 15 per cent in any company within 28 days. Mr Hunt took nearly five months to do so. He declared his co-ownership alongside the purchase of the flats in the Register of MPS’ Interests on March 7.
Mr Hunt told The Daily Telegraph the breaches were an “honest mistake” by his accountant and that he had corrected the Companies House listing.
His spokesman added: “Although there was no personal gain involved, Jeremy accepts these mistakes are his responsibility and has apologised to the parliamentary authorities.”
Referring to the Companies Act breaches, the spokesman said: “This was an honest mistake by Jeremy’s accountant, which was rectified as soon as it was brought to their attention.”
Dr Alex May, an academic, spotted the omission in the Companies House filing and contacted Mr Hunt’s office. His email, dated March 28, received no reply but a day later, Mr Hunt was listed as a “Person with Significant Control”, backdating his role to Sept 19, the day the firm was incorporated.