Roskov, Book 8, page 27
‘Economies of scale, yes. When I buy computers I buy a shipment with a thousand computers in it, and I get them for great prices.
‘At my club in Stockholm we pay three months upfront and we store the booze, and we get forty-five percent off. Our competitors get ten percent off maybe.’
‘Using money to make money, yeah, no credit and interest payments.’
‘Anything you need, ask.’ I stood. ‘And look at the extra cameras quickly, please, I want none of our guests murdered.’
Outside, and Pat had a man in an arm lock over a car bonnet, the staff rushing out, the police called.
When the police arrived they identified the man, his ex-girlfriend inside, and now he was under arrest for Section 5 of The Public Order Act – actions which may lead to a breach of the peace.
The manager told me, ‘This is common, happens most days.’
I left him to deal with his security issues, and for the local police to count this latest crime and to categorise it, since they had little else to do this week apparently.
The twins called at 9pm, plans now being made in earnest for my birthday bash, a great many people invited; the hall could hold more than a thousand guests.
Double-dealing
At 7am I got a bang on my bedroom door, which was a worry, that had not happened before. I opened it after putting on a tracksuit, to find Ted with Dingle.
Dingle began, ‘There’s a story on Reuters, published today in The Independent, that you’ve been spying on the IRA for us lot. Someone’s hoping that the IRA shoot you, my lot are in a flap.’
‘Fuckers,’ I sighed out. ‘Wait downstairs please.’
I had a quick shower and got dressed, soon handed a cup of tea in the kitchen, the TV news turned on. At 8am the story appeared, the allegation in The Independent that I was spying on the IRA for MI5 – enough to get the Catholics worked up.
My phone trilled ten minutes later, the Prime Minister. ‘Have you seen the news?’ he asked.
‘Yes, and it’s bullshit.’
‘We know, but I’m mad as hell because someone is trying to undermine the peace process.’
‘Don’t worry about the IRA, they’re not that stupid. And I will take High Court legal action.’
‘I speak in the Commons soon, and the paper will face a formal inquiry due to the serious nature of this. We can chat later.’
I made some toast as the lads discussed this odd event, Bill and Ted worried that the IRA might come for us, a bomb under a car.
At 9am my phone trilled, the IRA, and I was on speakerphone again.
‘Can you talk?’ the same man asked.
‘Yes, but first I need to ask you a question. How many of the dull cunts sat around the table there actually believe the story in the papers?’
‘Dull cunts, is it? Well none of us believe it, so we’re not dull cunts, and we know when some cunt in Whitehall is playing us. You never got us the jobs and investment just to fook about with us.’
‘OK, so you’re not dull cunts then. Oh, I wanted to visit Derry waterfront, with a Bishop from Rome, two weeks from now. Will it be safe?’
‘It’ll be safe, and busy now - so it is, like the fooking Klondike.’
‘The Prime Minister will find out who’s screwing around, he’s worried it will undermine the peace talks.’
‘Plenty of people would like ta throw a spanner in the works, aye, so watch ya back. And that TV programme, Have I Got News, that will put a few Loyalists out of kilter.’
‘Did I say something inaccurate?’
‘No, ya hit the nail on the head, but some folks around here don’t like that.’
‘The money will be invested if I’m alive or dead, so don’t worry.’
‘Got a shit load of Yanks wanting to invest now.’
‘I did a few chat shows in the States, and I made it clear that if there’s peace then the property prices over there will rise greatly.’
‘We’re grateful, just watch your back with these newspaper fellas.’
‘Answer me a question. After the split of Ireland, why the infighting?’
‘How much fooking time do you have, because this call is costing us! And explaining the infighting would take all day.’
‘Some wanted to fight on?’ I nudged.
‘And some wanted a peace, time to build, and no more killing for a while. Many wanted a pause, and that led to the troubles later on, so … it’s a delicate subject.’
‘If you have someone still alive from 1922, I’d love to chat to him.’
‘Not many left, some still alive. One I know, but not coherent, shall we say.’
‘Pity, I love history and I hate mysteries.’
‘His son is an official historian, ya can chat to him.’
‘Great, arrange it. And I don’t spy on people, and I’m beholden to no one, not even God. I answer to myself alone.’
‘Nice position to be in, because I’m beholden to me wife and two daughters.’
They laughed.
‘I know what you mean. The twins sometimes force me to give massages to beautiful slim young models…’
‘Fook right off, mister.’ They cut the call.
With the card of the Kudulov legal team in hand, I called the London number.
‘How may I direct your call?’
‘It’s Ricky Roskov.’
‘Moment.’
‘This is Michael Trench QC, Mister Roskov, I’m a part American part British, a mongrel, living here in London. You’re calling about The Independent?’
‘Yes. Can you move quickly?’
‘We can, yes, and will do so.’
‘The Prime Minister will stand up in court and state that he never authorised any spying.’
‘A good witness to have, yes. We’ll make a start.’
At Prime Minister’s Question Time, the Prime Minister raised his voice, threatening the newspaper with legal action and investigations by the regulators, and that the story was a pack of lies.
I spoke to the British lads, we jumped in the van and south we headed, to the BBC studios, and without an invite. At the studios they rushed me in, face dabbed, and I snuck to a seat quietly, trying not to cough or sneeze.
‘We now have Ricky Roskov with us in the studio. Ricky, what do you make of the claims in The Independent that you spied on the IRA leadership for our intelligence services?’
‘It’s a pack of lies, a deliberate fake story, and I will be taking High Court legal action against the newspaper, and I’ll win because they don’t have a source – not an accurate one.
‘The Prime Minister has been in touch with me, and he’s been in touch with the intelligence chiefs, and if someone was trying to push me to spy for the intelligence agencies then that someone is either out of a job today or will be in prison soon enough.
‘I also had a call from the IRA this morning, offering their complete support, and not even believing the story for a moment. And I’ll visit Londonderry soon.’
‘You’ll meet with the IRA leadership again?’
‘Not in the province, maybe in France. But the thing is … the money being invested into Northern Ireland continues without me, if I’m alive or dead or … discredited by a fake story. The money has been committed and is not dependent on me being around.
‘So I think that the people behind the fake story are more likely to be linked to the child sex ring than to people that want the peace process halted.’
I faced the camera. ‘If there’s anyone left out there with some morals and a sense of decency, don’t buy The Independent, they’re pedalling lies and not checking their sources – or the motivation of their sources.’
‘You think they’re operating like The Telegraph?’
‘Yes, a planted story by one or two people that will tarnish the whole journalistic integrity of the paper. A lot of good people will be tarnished by this episode.’
‘Are you in touch with MI5?’
‘Yes, and I carry a pager they handed me.’ I lifted it. ‘That was handed to me after I met with the IRA, so … not a good spy move if it transmits.’ I held it to my mouth. ‘Hello, testing, testing.
‘And I don’t speak to the IRA leadership about the peace process, and I’m not involved with the peace process, we spoke about investment and jobs and what was needed, only that.
‘I’ve not met with the British negotiators or the American team, or … met with anyone, I’m not involved at the moment, so the idiots behind the fake story should have done their homework.’
‘Thanks for coming on.’
I was led off quietly, the newspaper about to get a tonne of shit. Question was, who was the source, the real source?
Back in Leicester, it was now 3pm, take-away food bought by Dingle and Ted, who had bonded.
The Prime Minister issued a statement at 4pm, that no British agency was working to spy on the IRA via myself to undermine the peace process.
Then the roof fell in, the BBC shocked, when the lawyers for the newspaper claimed that the story had come from the Met Police, from their counter-terrorism unit. But they were not as shocked as the Met police themselves.
I immediately had visions of Met Officers at the brothel in Portugal, and linked to their fellow officers here in Leicester.
The Prime Minister summoned the Met Police Chiefs, and shouted, but none had any clue about a leaked story and – how the hell would they know anyhow what MI5 gets up to?
The Met’s Counter-Terrorism chief then issued a statement outside No.10, that his officers would not have a clue about what MI5 or MI6 got up to, or what I got up to, and that none of their officers had released such a story to a newspaper – an offence that would put the officer in question in prison.
The newspaper then backtracked some, and said that the story had come from a retired Met officer, but an hour later claimed that it had come from a current Met source.
My new QC called. ‘Michael Trench, and we issued a writ, but we also sat down with their legal team – who are confused and annoyed because they can’t do much to defend a moving target, and the story keeps changing.
‘Fact is, a crime was committed by handing information from the Met to a newspaper, a crime technically to receive it and use it for commercial gain.
‘But we have an issue … in that they may have a claim against you or a counter-claim, for defamation.’
‘Defamation?’ I queried.
‘You gave a BBC interview and asked that people with morals not buy the paper. That suggests publically that all journalists there and the paper as a whole have no morals, and that’s not the case, and possible defamation.
‘Your request for people not to buy the paper will probably hurt them in the pocket, so they have a case to claim for. You don’t have Parliamentary privilege, and you’re not a journalist.’
‘I own a newspaper and a radio station.’
‘Ah, yes, I had overlooked that, so you might get away with journalistic comments. But it’s still a grey area, and possible defamation.’
‘Good job that I have the best legal team in the world, according to Ross Daniels. Well, do I?’
‘We have a fantastic reputation, yes, and a great success rate.’
‘Then go meet with their legal team, and their editor, and remind them that they have a daily cash-flow, that they’re in debt, and that if I slander them on the TV every day for a week they’ll go bust … therefore no defamation from a dead company.’
‘You should be in here working for me.’
‘I get that a lot. Go frighten them.’
‘I will do, yes, in the morning. But by then there may have been arrests, this is serious stuff. If they do have a contact in the Met he’s off to prison, so that contact is unlikely to admit that he did it.
‘It does happen, Met officers leaking stories or selling them, but it comes with huge risks, especially when the people you sell the story to give you up.’
‘They ran a story without calling me…’
‘That is odd as well, they always call celebs and ask for them to comment first.’
‘And the story could have got me killed.’
‘Another good point, and reason for a high pay-out demanded. At least it was before you pointed out that the IRA don’t believe it.’
‘I don’t think like a tactical lawyer, I stick to the truth in these things. Aim was not to win a case but to diffuse the situation quickly, public opinion influenced not some financial gain.’
‘I understand.’
‘We should meet soon, I’ll pop down to London, and you can brief me on what’s defamation or not, because I criticise a great many people.’
‘If you criticise a political aspect as a political activist then that’s not defamation. If you say that the Government is wrong not to build more prisons, that’s not defamation.
‘If you say that the Home Secretary has a small cock, without proof, that’s defamation.’
‘Does he … have a small cock?’ I teased.
‘Probably.’
‘How much do you know about … my status with the estate?’
‘All of it, but no one else here does yet.’
‘Can I be charged with tax avoidance?’ I asked.
‘No, that would be very unlikely, but you need to be careful about benefit in kind. If whilst directing the estate you were to spend estate money that benefits you directly or indirectly, financially, then it could be argued as being a benefit in kind.
‘So if you buy a house in Leicester as an investment, and direct the estate to clean up Leicester, you benefit from a rise in local house prices. But it’s a grey area and you can argue that it’s charity work, which it is.
‘If the estate builds a hotel and you stay there free, that could be a benefit in kind - you’re being handed a few thousand quid, which you should declare and pay tax on.’
‘And the legal position, of deferring any inheritance?’ I pressed.
‘Not seen many cases like that, because usually the recipient smiles widely and takes the money, pays the tax and gets on with their luxury lifestyles.
‘But the estate is mostly based in France and registered in France, and they have different laws. In the UK the estate pays the tax, but in France the estate pays the beneficiaries, who then declare the tax.
‘In Britain there’s a high rate of tax over the threshold, but in France it’s on a sliding scale, starting at 5% but rising to 60%. There’s a dual-taxation treaty with us, so an estate settled in France does not leave tax due in Britain.
‘If money comes from the estate to you in Britain, you add it to your other income and complete a tax form at the end of the year, tax years April to April.’
‘I met Kudulov, and he left me a letter which seemed to suggest that much of the money should go to charity.’
‘You’re not legally bound to do that unless it was in his will and is explicit. After his death the estate was placed in trust, with rules and guidelines, but as the sole beneficiary – now or in the future, you’re influencing the estate, possibly for your own benefit, even if that benefit is just a pat on the back for your efforts in Northern Ireland.
‘Some smart arse taxman here could try and argue the case, even though no money has come to you. It would be hard, benefit in kind is hard to prove and to assign a value to, and there’s little precedent for it.
‘But as I said, if you stay in a hotel free of charge you can be asked to pay tax, the cost of the hotel room quantifiable. If you use a company jet from the estate then the taxman can ask for thousands of pounds in tax.’
‘They have a jet?’ I asked.
‘It’s up for sale at auction.’
‘Have a think, and draw up some guidelines for me on how to avoid the tax issues.’
‘May I ask … why you deferred inheritance?’
‘It would put me in the spotlight even more, more calls from people wanting money, more charities chasing me, and I’d be a target for kidnap with all that money. I’d be walking around with a target on my back.
‘I’m also the champion of the underdog, known for giving away most of what he earns, so this would make me a rich playboy in the eyes of some.’
‘Kidnap may be an issue, yes, your parents and the twins, international gangs that want to make money, but you have good protection now.’
‘My parents don’t, and I don’t want to worry them.’
‘So your plan for the estate is…’
‘Break it up, sell it, and do what Kudulov wanted - and try and fix the world with the money.’
He firmly suggested, ‘Create a charity, the Kudulov/Roskov charity, transfer the estate into it as a going concern, retain the management teams and lawyers, put yourself and a few nominated others on the trustee board, and direct where the money goes. No tax issues, no kidnap threats, yet you use the money for some good in the world.’
‘And if I profited from a joint venture with the charity?’
‘If you and they both invest in soy beans futures and make a buck, no issues. If you both invest in Northern Ireland and the value of the property appreciates, no issues again.
‘Could you be accused of using the charity money to benefit your private projects, yes of course, but they’d have a hard time arguing that you’re financially motived, you’re handing nine hundred million to charity.’
‘Discuss the charity idea with Ross Daniels -’
‘He suggested it, as a way around things.’
‘Then get the wheels turning, make a plan. My friends and relatives already think that’s the case, what you suggested, that I simply influence the charity.’
‘I’ll make a start and get back to you.’
‘Can someone refuse an inheritance?’
‘Yes, of course – the money may have been made by a drug dealer, or an abusive father. Then it goes to the state.’
‘Can the state, France or Britain, grab the money?’
‘They’d need written proof from you in court that you reject it, but then it would still be a trust – which was legally set-up before his death. Other rich people do it, leave an estate to a trust or a charity, or a trust that functions like a business and hands money to a nominated charity.’
