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The Philippines is a frontline of another cold war





Like in the Cold War, the United States is attempting to contain the influence of a great power rival in Southeast Asia. To counter China, the United States' approach to its relationship with the Philippines invokes déjà vu. Despite the passing of decades, the players, strategy and results remain the same.

First, the players. Many who have studied U.S.-Philippines relations during the Cold War focus on the relationship between President Reagan and the infamous Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. This is because Ronald Reagan was the quintessential "cold warrior" whose administration attempted to counter communist influence by supporting U.S.-aligned dictators the world over.



What gets less attention is President Carter's own complicity in propping up the Marcos regime. Carter, often categorized as a human rights-focused president, supported the Marcos regime after the declaration of martial law in the Philippines in an effort to keep U.S. access to military bases on the archipelago. While it is debatable whether Joe Biden is the new Jimmy Carter, he is a Democratic president who is claiming that his administration prioritizes human rights while navigating relationships with regimes that have dubious human rights records.

On the Philippines side, the comparison of President Rodrigo Duterte to Ferdinand Marcos is obvious: Duterte's drug war, encouragement of extrajudicial killings, shuttering of critical media and scoffing at international law echo the Marcos regime's myriad abuses. What's more, the children of both Marcos and Duterte are running on both parents' legacies in the Philippines presidential election.

Second, the strategy. The Philippines is, once again, seen as a geopolitically necessary bulwark against a superpower that threatens U.S. hegemony in the region. And again, the U.S. approach to containment is a prioritization of military superiority against China through access to bases on the Philippines.

To maintain access to these bases, the U.S. buys off the Philippine government with a steady stream of security assistance, turns a blind eye when atrocities are committed with said security assistance and reassures the Philippine government of lasting support whenever international or domestic criticisms are made.

Like in the first Cold War, the Philippine government is being given materials to engage domestic enemies, not foreign aggressors. Even with the most recently proposed arms sale of 10 F-16 fighter jets and a Harpoon Block II anti-ship missile system, the Philippines is no match for full-scale combat with the Chinese military and must rely on the military might of the U.S. to protect it. This approach does not foster sovereignty and self-determination; it leads to dependency and lackeyism.

Lastly, the results. In both cold wars, ordinary citizens at the crossroads of conflict were sacrificed. During the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, it is estimated that 3,257 people were murdered and 35,000 were tortured by the U.S.-backed Philippine security state. As of now, estimates put Duterte and his security forces' body count at approximately 30,000; this does not figure in the recent spate of killing human rights defenders. Along with Duterte's killings, his crackdown on critical media and political opposition mirrors Marcos's approach to dissent. As with most reigns of terror, we will not know the gravity or magnitude of the abuses committed until the regime has long disappeared.

What happened after Marcos's ouster was a critical reevaluation by the Filipino people of the Philippines' relationship with the United States due to the United States' unwavering support of Marcos.

As a result, the reawakened democracy voted in 1991 not to ratify a treaty that allowed the U.S. access to bases in the Philippines. It wasn't until 2014, with the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, that the U.S. was allowed to fully station bases in the Philippines. If the U.S. is determined to follow the exact same approach in the new cold war with regards to the Philippines, a similar backlash is bound to occur.

Setting aside the questionable utility of participating in another cold war, the United States owes it to the people of the Philippines not to repeat the mistakes we made in the first Cold War. This starts with distancing ourselves from human rights abusers who will cause more harm than good in the long term, and taking steps to demonstrate that human rights are a priority.

One substantial way to do this is to limit U.S. military aid to the armed forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police. By withholding security assistance until perpetrators of human rights violations are held accountable for their actions, the U.S. creates an incentive for the government of the Philippines to develop a framework to address human rights concerns and gives the U.S. moral consistency when criticizing other states of human rights abuses.

PANDORA PAPERS

 

PROFILES: Filipino tycoons, government officials in Pandora Papers leak

OCT 4, 2021 12:00 PM PHT

RAPPLER.COMPHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

MANILA, PHILIPPINES

(1st UPDATE) Explore the offshore financial dealings of Arthur Tugade, Dennis Uy, and other Philippine power players in the Pandora Papers

(Done in partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)

This page, produced by Rappler and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), features the offshore companies linked to more than 35 Filipino politicians, contractors, bankers, and business professionals.

Their profiles are based on a cache of leaked documents from offshore service providers, namely, Trident Trust, Commence Overseas Limited, Overseas Management Company Trust Limited, Asiaciti Trust, and Alcogal.

The documents were shared with Rappler and PCIJ by the non-profit International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which led a global investigation with more than 600 journalists in 117 countries.

PCIJ and Rappler found more than 940 individuals and companies with Philippine addresses in the leaked files.

We sifted through hundreds of emails, documents and corporate records, and selected names that were in the public interest.

We found an extremely small number of accounts are tied to big businesses with legitimate sources, while the rest are mysterious at the very least.

PANDORA PAPERS: MYSTERY NAMES HOLD BULK OF PHILIPPINE-LINKED OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS

There are legitimate uses of offshore companies, and we do not intend to imply that all of the individuals or companies included in this page were in violation of the law.

PCIJ and Rappler sent requests for comment to all those on the list. The answers we received are included in the profiles.

Arthur Tugade

Arthur P. Tugade is the Philippines’ transport secretary under the Duterte government. Before that, he was president of the Clark Development Corp. under the Aquino administration.

IN THE DATA:

Tugade and his children appear in Trident Trust records as beneficial owners of Solart Holdings Limited, a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company which appears to have been operating at least since 2007.

The offshore company was supposedly created for the income of the Tugade family’s businesses under Perry’s Group of Companies, Trident records show. Company assets worth $1.5 million (P75 million) were mentioned, but it is unknown whether the amount was transferred to Solart.

The offshore entity is not declared in the list of businesses in his yearly Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

RESPONSE:

On October 5, 2021, a day after the Pandora Papers were published, Tugade issued a statement, saying that Solart Holdings was set up to hold a portion of his family’s cash assets.

“It is a legitimate attempt to grow our financial portfolio like what any astute and judicious entrepreneurs would do to diversify their investments. We decided to have a portion of our savings invested outside the Philippines, which is valid and legal,” he said.

Tugade said he consistently disclosed ownership of “offshore investments” in his SALN from 2012 to 2020. “In the said period, the account barely moved,” the transport chief said.

TRANSPORT CHIEF TUGADE KEEPS OFFSHORE FIRM OFF BUSINESS LIST

Dennis Uy

Dennis Uy is a businessman with interests in shipping and logistics, gas distribution, telecommunications and other industries. Uy donated P30 million to Rodrigo R. Duterte’s presidential campaign in 2016 and was later appointed presidential adviser for sports. He has also been serving as honorary consul to Kazakhstan since 2011.

IN THE DATA:

Uy appears in Commence Overseas Limited records as the beneficial owner of China Shipbuilding and Exports Corp., a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company registered in 2016.

He is also listed as director of Pacific Rider Limited in Overseas Management Company (OMC) Trust Limited records. Pacific Rider is another BVI company registered in January 2017. Uy’s company, Udenna Management and Resources Corp., is identified as the principal shareholder of Pacific Rider.

Uy is also a stockholder of Apex Mining Co., Inc, a Philippine corporation that ultimately holds Monte Oro Mining Co. Ltd., another BVI company managed through Commence.

In the prospectus of one of Uy’s companies, Chelsea Logistics and Holdings Corp., which was published before its initial public offering, the company declared that Chelsea purchased three tank vessels from China Shipbuilding and Exports Corp. (CSEC), one each in 2011, 2013, and 2014. The collective cost of the three vessels is $48.3 million. Chelsea disclosures did not indicate that CSEC is also owned by Uy.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to Mr. Uy on September 16 via email and made several followups. We have not received a response as of press time.

Juan Andres ‘Andy’ Bautista

Juan Andres “Andy” Bautista served the administration of President Benigno Aquino III in two capacities.

He was appointed as chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government in 2010 and chairman of the Commission of Elections in 2015. The House of Representatives started an impeachment proceeding against Bautista in 2017, following allegations of unexplained wealth by his estranged wife. Bautista resigned from Comelec in October 2017.

Before his stint in government, he served in various law firms, including Anglo Oriental Consulting Ltd. (Manila), White & Case (Hong Kong/New York), Troutman Sanders (Atlanta), and Castillo Laman Tan & Pantaleon (Manila). He was also a partner with international law firm Allen & Overy.

IN THE DATA:

Bautista appears in Trident Trust records as incorporator of Baumann Enterprises Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2010. The offshore company was reincorporated in 2017.

In the same year, Bautista was in hot water after his estranged wife, Patricia Paz Bautista, claimed he had a boxful of bank books and documents for undeclared wealth worth P1 billion. Baumann was one of the companies mentioned by Patricia to the press as a firm owned by her husband.

Before the year ended, Bautista had resigned from his post as Comelec chair, and left the Philippines. Baumann has never been declared in Bautista’s Statement of Liabilities, Assets and Net Worth (SALN) from 2010 to 2015.

RESPONSE:

In an email, Bautista said Baumann Enterprises is a shelf company his family purchased upon the advice of the Bank of Singapore (BOS), the institution in charge of the offshore income of the Bautista family through private banking.

“We were told this was normal private banking practice to facilitate our family’s desired objective of pooling our assets together,” he said.

The former Comelec chairman also noted he and his other family members had not directly dealt with Trident. He also reiterated that his personal assets in the company “were reported and duly reflected” in his SALNs.

However, Bauman has never been declared as his in his SALNs from 2010 to 2015.

Still, he contends he had not stolen any public funds from the Philippine government, “nor do I possess any ill-gotten wealth.”

Aboitiz family

The Aboitiz family owns one of the oldest conglomerates in the Philippines, the Aboitiz Group. It was founded by Filipino-Spanish businessman Jon Ramon M. Aboitiz in the 1970s. The conglomerate has interests in power generation, banking, real estate and infrastructure.

IN THE DATA:

Pandora Papers show several members of the Aboitiz family as having offshore companies, but only one has been mentioned publicly to be used for business purposes: Nice Fruit Hong Kong Ltd., a company registered in Hong Kong. Asiaciti Trust records show that 14% of the company’s shares is owned by Txanton International Limited, a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company. It is in turn, indirectly owned by Enrique Mendieta Aboitiz, current board chairman of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, as his trust in the firm is held by an individual named Leung Yi Ki. Nice Fruit, a joint venture with Del Monte Pacific Limited, and listed by the latter in its annual reports as such.

Enrique has three other BVI companies as revealed in Alcogal records: Arcata Group Limited, All Venus Limited, and Radiant Magic Limited. He also has two Seychelles companies: Permanent Victory Limited and Cloud Victory Limited.

Meanwhile, Maria Cristina Cabbarus Aboitiz, who is a current board member of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., and wife of the late Robert Aboitiz, appears in the AsiaCiti Trust records as the beneficial owners of Woodcrest Hill Limited and Stillcho Trust.

Trident Trust records also show Melissa Marie Aboitiz Elizalde as the beneficial owner of Ozmond Holdings Limited and Santdomico Corporation. She is among the top 100 shareholders of Aboitiz Power Corp., a listed firm in the Philippines.

She also co-owns Igsoon Investment Limited with her siblings, Luis Miguel Osmena Aboitiz, the former chief strategy officer of Aboitiz Power, and Mary Anne Aboitiz Arculli.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to the Aboitiz family on September 16 via email and made several followups. We have not received a response as of press time.

Gaisano family

The Gaisano family owns the publicly-listed Metro Retail Stores Group and the private mall operator Gaisano Grand Malls Group.

IN THE DATA:

Siblings Frank, Edward, Jack, and Margaret Gaisano appear in the Commence Overseas Limited list as beneficial owners of Beacon-Glory Assets Limited, Cathedral Pacific Limited, Chinaberry Asia Limited, and Pura Group Limited.

RESPONSE:

Frank Gaisano, through their lawyers, said that the BVI companies were made “for offshore business opportunities.”

The Gaisano family chose to incorporate the companies outside of the Philippines “for cost and tax efficiency.”

“There is no Philippine law that requires Filipinos (those not working in the government) to declare to Philippine authorities the offshore companies that they own or invest in,” their statement read.

Gatchalian family

The Gatchalian family rose to prominence as operators of plastic manufacturing facilities under the Wellex Group Inc. (WGI). The Gatchalian patriarch, William T. Gatchalian, founded the firm in 1969.

For the past five decades, the family has expanded its interests to include real estate, tourism, banking, and mining.

In 2001, the second generation of Gatchalians, led by now-Senator Sherwin, joined the political arena. Sherwin served as representative of Valenzuela City in Congress from 2001 to 2004, then as mayor of the city from 2004 until 2013, then back as congressman for another term, before getting elected to the Senate in 2016. His brothers have held the mayoral and congressional seats since he vacated them.

These political developments happened as members of the Gatchalian family, including Sherwin, were indicted in 2016 for the government’s alleged irregular acquisition of an insolvent bank owned by WGI.

In 2019, the Local Water Utilities Administration acquired Express Savings Bank Inc., a local thrift bank based in Laguna, a province south of Metro Manila.

IN THE DATA:

Members of the Gatchalian family – namely, William and his wife, Dee Hua; his son, Kenneth; and Dee Hua’s sister, Elvira Ting – are linked to at least nine offshore companies, as shown in Commence Overseas Limited records.

William and Dee Hua are named as direct beneficiaries of Creston Global Limited. Dee Hua is also named as sole direct beneficiary of Topwin Ventures Limited and Dedication Limited. She co-owns Silver Green Investments Limited and Polymax Worldwide Limited with Elvira Ting as well.

Meanwhile, Kenneth is found to be a direct beneficiary of Dynamo Atlantic Limited, Pentagon Development Limited and Overjoy Holdings Limited. He also co-owns Firstlink Investments Limited with Elvira Ting. There are no details of when the companies were incorporated, except for Dedication Limited, which was revealed to have been registered in the British Virgin Islands in 1992.

Polymax Worldwide Limited is the only publicly declared entity. Metro Alliance Holdings Corp., a WGI subsidiary, incorporated the company in 2003, Metro Alliance annual reports show. Polymax was used to acquire the controversial Bataan Polyethelyne Corp. from International Finance Corp. in 2005.

BPC was debt-ridden when Metro Alliance acquired it. Metro Alliance also never got to operate the facility. Instead, Polymax sold its shares to Iran-based NPC International Limited and Petrochemical Industries Investment Group, to offload its liabilities.

RESPONSE:

Nikki Jimeno, the Gatchalian family’s legal counsel, said the offshore companies were incorporated for “legitimate investment purposes” as they would like to explore “global trading”.

Jimeno also noted stockholders of its companies were notified of the activity. Among the offshore companies found in the Pandora Papers, only Polymax Worldwide Limited were disclosed in the annual reports of Metro Alliance Holdings & Equities Corp.

Olivares and Santos families

The Olivares and Santos families own Our Lady of Fatima University, which has six campuses across the Philippines. The institution started from the establishment of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in Valenzuela in 1967. By the next decade, they expanded and opened the Our Lady of Fatima College of Nursing. Since then the institution has opened campuses in different parts of Luzon.

IN THE DATA:

August Olivares Santos, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Our Lady of Fatima University, appears in Commence records as the beneficial owner of 7-21st Street Investments Inc., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2008. A 2012 document shows that at least six relatives are also directors of the company. They are Enrico John Olivares Santos, Mylene Olivares Santos, Robert Jerome Bjorn Olivares Santos, Vicente Olivares Santos Jr., and Yvonne Olivares Santos. All of them are either current members or once served on the board of Our Lady of Fatima University.

August Olivares Santos also appears in Trident Trust and Commence Overseas records as director of two other offshore firms: Fairbrook Overseas Limited and Waterberry Management Limited, companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to the Olivares and Santos families on September 16 via email, and made several followups. We have not received a response as of press time.

The Sy family

The Sy siblings – Henry, Hans, Harley, Elizabeth, Herbert, and Teresita – own the SM Group. Forbes ranked them as the richest Filipinos, collectively worth $16.6 billion.

IN THE DATA:

The names of Henry, Hans, Harley, Elizabeth, Herbert, and Teresita appear in the Commence Overseas Limited records as owners of Quicksilver Global Limited and Valueplus Resources Limited.

The list also states that Teresita and Harley are the beneficial owners of Deercreek Worldwide Limited.

Harley is also said to be the beneficial owner of Crownhill Overseas Limited, Equimax Worldwide Limited, Simplex Group Limited, Broadbase Global Limited, and Pioneer Zone Investments Limited.

Teresita is listed as the owner of Antares Resources Limited and Accura International Limited.

Harley and Teresita were also mentioned as owners of Jetstream Capital Limited.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to the SM Group on September 20 via email, and made several followups. We have not received a response as of press time.

Tantoco family

The Tantoco family founded luxury retail chain Rustans and own the SSI Group, the Philippines’ largest specialty retailer.

IN THE DATA:

The names of SSI president and director Anthony Tantoco Huang and its CEO Zenaida Tantoco appear in the Commence Overseas Limited list as beneficial owners of Transwell Worldwide Limited and Eaglepass International Limited.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to SSI on September 20 via email. We have not received a response as of press time.

Joselito ‘Butch’ Campos Jr.

Campos is the founder of food and condiments firm NutriAsia Inc. In 2006, the firm bought a majority stake in Singapore-based Del Monte Pacific Limited.

Campos also has interests in real estate and pharmaceuticals through his father’s businesses, Greenfield Development Corp. and Unilab Laboratories Inc. The food tycoon is known among the local art circle to be a collector. Campos chairs the Metropolitan Museum of Manila and the Bonifacio Arts Foundation Inc.

IN THE DATA:

Pandora Papers do not show Campos as a beneficial owner of any offshore firm, but he is revealed to have done business with one. In 2011 and 2015, Campos bought art pieces through Montefalco Limited, a Hong Kong-based offshore firm.

Asiaciti records reveal Montefalco facilitated Campos’ art purchases abroad. The two transactions, which at one point involved a purchase of a Fernando Amorsolo oil painting, were worth $150,000 and £160,000, respectively.

RESPONSE:

In an email, Antonio Ungson, internal legal counsel of Del Monte Pacific Limited, said Campos is “a private citizen and has purchased artworks only in his personal capacity.”

Ungson reiterated that Campos does not have beneficial interest in Montefalco Limited.

Helen Dee

Helen Dee is the chair of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).

The bank was used by cyber criminals to steal $81 million from the Bangladesh Bank in February 2016.

IN THE DATA:

Helen Dee appears in Trident Trust records as the beneficial owner of Jason Holding Ltd. and Neenah Ltd., two companies registered in the British Virgin Islands in 1988 and 1994, respectively.

In April 2016, amid the Bangladesh Bank heist investigations, records show that Dee changed the agent in charge of these two companies, from Trident Trust to MMG Trust. There are no details on what the companies are being used for.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to Ms. Dee on September 16, via email, and made several followups. We have not received a response as of press time.

Rolando Gapud

Rolando Gapud is the executive chairman of the board of Del Monte Pacific Limited.

He served as “financial adviser” to the Marcos family. He would later on help identify the family’s assets for government retrieval.

IN THE DATA:

Gapud appears in Asiaciti Trust records as the beneficial owner of Retiro II Trust (Cook Islands) and Northwick Holdings Limited (British Virgin Islands). His wife and six children were also identified as direct beneficiaries.

As of 2014, Northwick Holdings Limited owns 40% of a company called Great Arian Property Holdings Co. Inc. in the Philippines. Gapud had also disclosed in Asiaciti Trust records that Retiro II Trust would comprise of “properties held in the Philippines by BVI companies which he owns and administers personally.” The communication was made in 2014. In the same year, Gapud was named as chairman of Del Monte Foods Inc.

RESPONSE:

In an email, he said “the trust and Northwick Holdings were formed upon the advice of our lawyers for estate planning purposes.”

Gapud noted the trust and Northwick were never activated and have remained dormant.

“No assets were ever added to the trust or Northwick,” he added.

Oscar Hilado

Oscar Hilado is director of several companies with interests in telecommunications, tourism and mining. He is chair of publicly listed firm Phinma Corp. since 2003. In 2015, he became an independent director of Rockwell Land Corp.

IN THE DATA:

Hilado appears in Commence records as the beneficial owner of Merrylink International Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.

RESPONSE:

Hilado said the company was established as part of an investment portfolio plan “that was ultimately not pursued.” He said the company is now closed.

Enrique Razon Jr.

Enrique Razon Jr., chairman of International Container Terminal Services, the country's leading terminal operator, has been on in Forbes’ list of 10 richest Filipinos since 2011.

In the past decade, Razon has expanded to hospitality and infrastructure business, through Bloomberry Resorts and Prime Infrastructure Holdings, respectively. He also has business interests in water distribution, retail, and mining.

Razon has bagged key infrastructure projects in the past five years. Razon’s infrastructure firm, Prime Infra, got a water dam project and the rights to distribute electricity in a provincial island town in the Philippines.

Recently, Razon was allowed to build a mega vaccination site on reclaimed land in Metro Manila.

IN THE DATA:

Razon appears in 2016 Commence Overseas Limited records as the beneficial owner Monte Oro Mining Co Ltd. (MOMCL), a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Apex Mining Co Inc., a mining company registered in the Philippines, indicated in its annual reports that MOMCL is a subsidiary of Monte Oro Resources & Energy, Inc. (MORE).

MOMCL was incorporated in 2016, and lists the Filipino billionaire as a direct beneficiary.

Razon owns 40% of the shares of Apex Mining Co Inc. Apex annual reports also show that MOMCL owns a gold mining project in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Aside from MOMCL, Razon also appears in Commence records as a direct beneficiary of Saxony Asia Limited, a company registered in 2016.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to Mr. Razon on September 16 via email. We have not received a response as of press time.

Peter Rodriguez

Peter Rodriguez is the founder of Asian Aerospace Corp., an air charter operator. The company is considered a pioneer in the local industry.

In 2001, Asian Aerospace Corp. partnered with U.S.-based arms and defense firm Lockheed Martin Corp. for a P2.1-billion deal with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

PCIJ reported Lockheed was looking to sell military planes to the then Arroyo-led Philippine government, and delivered the units even before a final contract was signed.

IN THE DATA:

Rodriguez appears in Commence Overseas Limited records as the beneficial owner of Skyjet International Group Limited. The company was incorporated in 2017 in the British Virgin Islands.

Skyjet looks to be used for the trade of aircrafts, as a press release from 2011 shows it sold a $18.5-million plane to Glory Key Investments Limited.

RESPONSE:

Rodriguez said the company was established for “business purposes.” As to whether the transactions he made through these companies were reported to concerned agencies is unknown.

Elmer Serrano

Elmer B. Serrano is a lawyer of the Sy family, owners of SM Prime Inc. and SM Investments Inc. The family operates the largest mall chain in the Philippines, and the country’s biggest bank in terms of assets.

Serrano sits as secretary of several Sy-owned firms, including 2GO, SM Prime Holdings, Premium Leisure Corp., and Banco dDe Oro Savings Bank.

IN THE DATA:

Serrano appears in Asiaciti Trust records as director of Myddleton Holdings Ltd., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. He was appointed in 2018. Information on the beneficial owners or the purpose of the company are not available.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to Mr. Serrano on September 16 via email. We have not received a response as of press time.

Wenceslao family

Delfin Wenceslao Jr. is president and director of real estate firm DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc. In 2003, the firm expanded to construction with the incorporation of Aseana Holdings Inc. The company has since been specializing in developing reclaimed land, with the 204-hectare Aseana City in Pasay as its flagship project.

Wenceslao Jr. passed away last September 22 at the age of 77.

IN THE DATA:

Wenceslao has appeared in Commence records as director of a British Virgin Islands company, Crown Star Ventures Limited, as early as 2001. By 2014, he included his children – Carlos Delfin, Delfin Angelo, and Edwin Michael – as co-directors of the company.

In a report by Esquire Philippines, Delfin Angelo said it was the same year the company created a “family constitution,” which detailed “​the goals, concerns, rules and even dispute resolution mechanics of the family with regards to the business.” All of his sons serve on the board of DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc., with Delfin Angelo now sitting as CEO.

A 2017 document also shows Wenceslao’s wife, Sylvia Chua Wenceslao, as beneficial owner of Crown Star Ventures Limited.

RESPONSE:

PCIJ and Rappler sent a letter to DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc. on September 16 via email, but learned that he passed away on September 22.

We made follow-ups with DM Wenceslao since. We have not received a response as of press time.

Monte Oro Resources and Energy

Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. (MORE) is a corporation wholly owned by Apex Mining Co. Inc. Among Apex Mining’s stockholders are: Ramon Y. Sy, Walter W. Brown, Graciano P. Yumul Jr., Modesto B. Bermudez, and Dennis A. Uy.

A. Brown Company Inc. and Prime Metroline Holdings Inc. are also among Apex’s top stockholders. A. Brown is owned by Walter W. Brown. Prime Metroline is owned by Enrique K. Razon Jr.

IN THE DATA:

Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. (MORE) appears in Commence records as the major shareholder of Monte Oro Mining Co. Ltd., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Monte Oro Mining Co. Ltd. (MOMCL) is 90% owned by Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. (MORE) while the remaining 10% is owned by Walter W. Brown, according to a 2017 email.

In a 2016 Commence record, Razon was indicated as the beneficial owner of MOMCL.

RESPONSE:

Billy Torres, vice president for finance and compliance officer of APEX Mining Co. Inc. confirmed that Monte Oro Mining Co. Ltd. is owned 90% by Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. In turn, Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc. is owned 100% by Apex Mining Co. Ltd. (APX).

Torres said Monte Oro Mining Co. Ltd. has an exploration project in Sierra Leone, and noted “it is normal to establish offshore companies to hold offshore projects.”

Jose Carlo Antonio

Jose Carlo Antonio is managing director of listed property giant Century Properties. Prior to joining the company in 2007, he worked in the investment banking groups of Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

IN THE DATA:

Antonio’s name appears in the list by Commence Overseas Limited as beneficial owner of Bantam Enterprises Limited, a company incorporated in British Virgin Islands in 2013.

RESPONSE:

In an email, Century Properties said that they have endorsed the queries of PCIJ and Rappler to BVI Finance. We will update this story once the company has responded to our request. – Rappler.com/PCIJ

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ‘PANDORA PAPERS’ PROJECT: Carmela Fonbuena, Miriam Grace A. Go, Karol Ilagan, Elyssa Lopez, Pauline Macaraeg, Ralf Rivas, Felipe Salvosa

ILLUSTRATED PROFILES: Guia Abogado

Other stories in the Pandora Papers Philippines series:

Offshore havens, hidden riches exposed in Pandora Papers leak

Pandora Papers: Mystery names hold bulk of Philippine-linked offshore accounts

Transport chief Tugade keeps offshore firm off business list

Tugade says offshore investments has ‘barely moved’ while he’s in government

 

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Coco Chanel the Nazi spy: New document reveals that fashion designer worked for Hitler's military intelligence French documentary claims late fashion designer worked for the Nazis Had relationship with senior Gestapo officers during Second World War Code-named 'Westminster'- referring to her affair with Duke of Westminster Exploited friendship with Winston Churchill to try and strike truce in 1943 Other French stars' relationships with the Nazis also called into question Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier and Sacha Guitry all said to have had links French researchers claim to have found indisputable evidence that Coco Chanel worked as a spy for the Nazis during the Second World War. A written record made public for the first time in a documentary broadcast on French television last night is said to prove that the late fashion designer was a member of Abwehr - Adolf Hitler's secret military intelligence agency. The documentary also raised questions about the role played by other French celebrities during the Second World War, including singers Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier and dramatist Sacha Guitry. +7 Claim: A document made public for the first time in a documentary broadcast on French television last night is said to prove that Coco Chanel was a member of Abwehr - Adolf Hitler's secret military intelligence agency     The newly revealed document suggests that while working for the Nazis, Coco Chanel (pictured left and right) went by the codename 'Westminster' - a reference to her affair with the Duke of Westminster in the 1920s L'Ombre d'un Doute [The Shadow of a Doubt], broadcast on the state-owned France 3 channel yesterday evening, countered the French government's official claim that almost every well-known figure from the time either joined the Resistance movement or simply boycotted the Nazis. Although the claim has long been considered spurious by French historians, the issue of doubt has largely been ignored by mainstream French broadcasters. +7 Links: Coco Chanel is pictured with Winston Churchill's son Randolph at Ascot in the mid-1930s According to the documentary, Chanel's involvement with the Nazis began around the time of the collapse of the French army in 1940. She returned to Paris shortly after and moved in to the Ritz Hotel, which was doubling as the Luftwaffe's French headquarters at the time. She soon began an affair with a senior Gestapo officer by the name of Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage and became so closely acquainted with the Nazi upper echelons that she was sent to Madrid in 1943 where she exploited her past acquaintance with Winston Churchill to try and strike a truce with British officers stationed there. Churchill allegedly ignored the offer, with historian Henry Gidel saying Chanel 'displayed incredible megalomania and naivety in imagining that she could change Churchill's mind.' The newly revealed document suggests that while working for the Nazis, Chanel went by the codename 'Westminster' - a reference to her affair with the Duke of Westminster in the 1920s. Her official Abwehr number was F-7124 according to official Nazi record - which has been secretly held in the French Ministry of Defence archives for the past seven decades. The host of the documentary, historian ******* Ferrand, went on to claim that Chanel used her Nazi influence to try and reclaim the perfume business she sold to a Jewish family in 1924. +7 The documentary claims Edith Piaf (pictured) accepted two invitations to perform at private Nazi functions   Ties: The documentary's claims that singer Maurice Chevalier (left) and dramatist Sacha Guitry (right) were linked to the Nazis largely centred on the idea that the stars' careers flourished in occupied France Justine Picardie reveals the complexity of Chanel's relationships   Ferrand said the fashion designer had hoped that Nazi rules banning Jews owning businesses may lead to the company being confiscated and given back to her, but it later merged that the Wertheimer family had already sold their stake in Chanel perfume to a German businessman. The documentary's claims that Piaf, Chevalier and Guitry were linked to the Nazis were less fleshed-out and largely centred on the idea that the stars' careers flourished in occupied France - with Piaf also accepting two invitations to perform at private Nazi functions. The documentary claimed that officials in post-War France scrubbed the celebrities' records of Nazi links and invented ties to the Resistance movement in order to help rebuild the country's reputation. AT LEAST 1,000 ex-Nazis were hired by the U.S. as spies during the Cold War... and the CIA even helped them move to America Newly disclosed government records indicate the CIA and FBI ignored potential war crimes when they hired these ex-Nazis in the 1950s and 1960s Turned Nazis performed a variety of spy tasks from training for a possible invasion of USSR to laying communication cables in East Germany  While death camp wardens and Gestapo officers were being tried at Nuremberg in the aftermath of World War II, the U.S. was putting other former Nazis on the payroll. It has been revealed through recently disclosed government documents and interviews that at least 1,000 ex-Nazis were recruited by the American military, FBI and CIA to become Cold War spies and informants, the New York Times reports. Not only did they hire former Third Reich members suspected of carrying out war crimes, they went so far as to help their spies immigrate to the U.S. and cover up their involvement in the war in an attempt to protect them from the U.S. Justice Department's own Nazi hunters. And that estimate is considered conservative by the historians who were tasked by the government to declassify the war-crime records. Scroll down for video +6 Working for us: It has been revealed that at least 1,00 former Nazi police officials and collaborators were recruited by the FBI and CIA in the aftermath of World War II to become Cold War spies for the U.S. Above, Adolph Hitler greets SS officers at his birthday on April 20, 1937 'U.S. agencies directly or indirectly hired numerous ex-Nazi police officials and East European collaborators who were manifestly guilty of war crimes,' University of Florida historian Norman Goda told the Times. 'Information was readily available that these were compromised men.' Records reveal that these spies and informants were recruited from every level of the fallen Nazi regime, from SS officers to Adolf Eichmann's own mentor and 'master race' proselytizer. U.S. agencies directly or indirectly hired numerous ex-Nazi police officials and East European collaborators who were manifestly guilty of war crimes. Information was readily available that these were compromised men Norman Goda, historian, University of Florida In the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and CIA Chief Allen Dulles were in agreement that these former Nazis would be more helpful to the U.S. as Soviet spies than in prison.  In Maryland, Army officials trained Nazi officers for a possible invasion of Russia while in Connecticut an ex-Nazi guard was hired to study Soviet-bloc postage stamps for possible hidden messages. In Virginia, a former top adviser to Hitler himself gave classified briefings on the Soviets while ex-SS officers living in East Germany lay surveillance cables and tracked train movements. However, the records also showed that many of these former Nazis ended up not being effective spies, and some were even double agents. One of the more senior Nazis recruited by the U.S. was Aleksandras Lileikis, who was connected to the mass murder of 60,000 Jews in a Lithuanian ghetto. Nazi spies found on the coast of Maine in 1942   War criminal: The CIA knew of Aleksandras Lileikis' possible connection to the mass murder of Jews in Vilna, Lithuania, but they hired him anyway to become a spy in East Germany in 1952. Four years later they helped him move to the U.S. (his immigration picture on the right) +6 Above, a view of the ghetto in Vilna, Lithuania where nearly 60,000 Jews stayed before their deportation to death camps Lileikis also worked for the CIA after the war, and the agency even wrote in documents their knowledge of his war crimes. They wrote that Lileikis worked 'under the control of the Gestapo during the war' and that he 'was possibly connected with the shooting of Jews in Vilna'. Lileikis was hired to spy in East Germany in 1952, and the agency paid him $1,700 a year and eventually helped him immigrate to the U.S. four years later. He lived here for forty years before he was discovered in 1994 living outside Boston, and prosecutors moved to put to deport him. A CIA lawyer called the Justice Department telling them 'you can't file this case.' The CIA and Justice Department allegedly came to an agreement that Lileikis would not be put on trial if the agency turned over their evidence showing the former Nazi was turned into a U.S. spy. Ultimately, they let Lileikis get deported before making public their embarrassing past of hiring ex-Nazis. And even though they wrote about his involvement in the liquidation of the Vilna ghetto in internal memos, their official comment was that they were not aware of any war crimes. 'There is no evidence, that this Agency was aware of his wartime activities,' the CIA said in a 1995 statement. Another senior Nazi turned-American-spy was Otto von Bolschwing, who was a mentor and top aide to Adolph Eichmann - one of the masterminds of the Holocaust. It shouldn't have happened. He never should have been admitted to the United States. It wasn't consistent with out values as a country. Gus von Bolschwing, son of ex-Nazi turned U.S. spy Otto von Bolschwing Despite writing papers on how to terrorize Jews, the CIA hired Bolschwing as a spy in Europe and eventually moved his family to New York City in 1954 as 'a reward for his loyal postwar service and in view of the innocuousness of his [Nazi] party activities'. But when Eichmann was captured living in Argentina in 1960, Bolschwing feared he too would be exposed and put on trial as a conspirator with the creator of the 'Final Solution'. The CIA however reassured Bolschwing that they would protect him, and he did live freely in the U.S. for another 20 years before Nazi hunters tracked him down and moved to deport him from the country. Bolschwing agreed to give up his citizenship in 1981, and he died a few months later. Bolschwing's son, 75-year-old Gus Von Bolschwiung, is critical of his father's post-war counter-intelligence career. 'They used him, and he used them,' Gus von Bolschwing told the Times. 'It shouldn’t have happened. He never should have been admitted to the United States. It wasn’t consistent with our values as a country'  None of these ex-Nazi spies are known to be alive today. Eichmann's man: Otto von Bolschwing (left) was a mentor and top aide to Adolph Eichmann (right), one of the masterminds of the Holocaust. He was hired by the U.S. to spy in Europe in the aftermath of World War II. He lived in the U.S. for more than two decades before he was discovered by Nazi hunters and deported   It was one of Churchill’s most daring – and successful – plans of World War II. The creation of a secret spy network manned by ordinary men and women desperate to do their bit to beat the Nazis. Now the daring exploits of these half-forgotten heroes of the Special Operations Executive, or SOE, are fully revealed in a new TV series, Secret War. Take the amazing story of the Polish aristocrat Krystyna Skarbek. She joined the fight against Hitler when she was parachuted into France, where she employed her magnetic and flirtatious personality to persuade the Gestapo to release a team of fellow SOE agents they had captured. Seductive: Casino Royale's Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, was based on Krystyna Skarbek James Bond author Ian Fleming, who is thought to have been Krystyna’s lover, based Bond girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale and Tatiana Romanova in From Russia With Love on her. Tragically, after being awarded the OBE and George Medal for her exploits, Krystyna was stabbed to death in London by a spurned lover in 1952. Equally fearless was Violette Szabo, whose story was featured in the classic film Carve Her Name With Pride. Violette was the daughter of an English father and a French mother, and married to a French Foreign Legion officer. After her husband’s death at the battle of El Alamein, Violette was desperate to fight the Nazis. She completed her first mission in occupied France successfully, despite being arrested and talking her way out of trouble. She was not so lucky on her next mission, which coincided with D-Day. She ran into an SS Panzer Division while working with the French Resistance, and was wounded and captured in a shoot-out. Tortured by the Gestapo in Paris, she gave nothing away and was executed at Ravensbruck concentration camp. She was 23. Her daughter Tania went to Buckingham Palace to collect her mother’s George Cross in 1946, aged just four. Clever: Krystyna Skarbek used her 'flirtatious personality' Bruno Gimpel is one of the Secret War's few survivors. 'I was only 17 in 1944, and was running around with a revolver and a sub-machine gun,’ he recalls proudly. ‘What boy wouldn’t have enjoyed that?’ Bruno’s war began in June 1940 when, as the 13-year-old youngest son of an Italian banker living in London, he heard Italy’s Fascist dictator, Mussolini, had joined Hitler’s war against Britain. ‘My father and elder brother were interned as enemy aliens, and my mother and I were put on a troop ship with other members of Britain’s Italian community, and swapped in neutral Lisbon for a ship carrying Italy’s British community.’ After the Allies invaded Italy in 1943, Bruno and his mother took to the hills, where the 16- year-old was contacted by an SOE mission parachuted in to make contact with Italian partisans fighting behind the German lines. ‘I was recruited because I could speak English and Italian,’ says Bruno, who had a ringside seat for some of the war’s fiercest fighting – including Operation Tombola, when an SAS unit of just 40 men stormed the German 51st Division HQ manned by over 300 soldiers. Did Bruno ever think his life might end violently? ‘When you are young you don’t think about such things,’ he answers modestly. After the war, Bruno became an accountant in Milan. He looks back on his days as a guerrilla fighter as the most fulfilling of his life. And the best memory of all? ‘Getting my own back on my two elder brothers who sat out the war in England. They’d always looked down on me as a bambino, but the war made me a man.’

 

 

 

 

A Chinese spy ship has been spotted off the coast of Hawaii during a giant U.S.-led naval exercise.

The vessels crashed the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) drill which involves 22 countries, 40 ships and more than 250,000 soldiers.

Despite the potential threat to U.S. security, Beijing's defence ministry said they had the right to send in the intelligence boats, even though four ships and 1,000 of their soldiers were already part of the operation.

U.S. Marine Corps have shown off a new amphibious vehicle in Hawaii (shown). The Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector (Uhac) can travel on land and sea.

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Warfare: The Chinese vessels were spotted at the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) drill where the U.S. Navy was showing off one of its new amphibious vehicles (pictured)

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Presence: The Chinese naval destroyer Haikou (left) and frigate Yueyang were already involved in the drill

The Navy played down any intelligence risk associated with the vessels and noted that China also sent a similar ship to monitor the same exercise two years ago.

'We've taken all necessary precautions to protect our critical information,' said Captain Darryn James, chief spokesman of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. 'We expect this ship will remain outside of U.S. territorial seas and not operate in a manner that disrupts the ongoing Rim of the Pacific maritime exercise.'

In a statement, China's Defence Ministry, said its naval vessels had the right under international law to operate 'in waters outside of other country's territorial waters'.

'China respects the rights granted under international law to relevant littoral states, and hopes that relevant countries can respect the legal rights Chinese ships have,' it added.

U.S. officials hope China's participation in RIMPAC will help resolve tensions but analysts believe their presence may help Beijing strengthen its naval capability,

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Military might: The drill off the coast of Hawaii involves 22 nations, as well as 49 surface ships (including new U.S. machinery), and more than 200 aircraft

The U.S. also conducts surveillance operations in international waters and airspace and the Navy did not voice protest over the appearance of the vessel.

Still, James said he was unaware of any participant doing something similar since the RIMPAC drills began in 1971.

'To my knowledge, this is the first time a nation has ever sent a surveillance ship near Hawaii while also having invited ships participating in the RIMPAC exercise,' James said.

The Chinese ships participating in the drills are missile destroyer Haikou, missile frigate Yueyang, supply ship Qiandaohu and hospital ship Peace Ark. 

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Future of warfare: The US displayed a prototype of its new amphibious transport vehicle, the Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connecter (UHAC). It can drive onto the shore and scale objects up to three metres high on land

The exercises come at a time when tensions are high between Beijing and U.S. allies such as Japan and the Philippines over China's pressing of territorial claims in the South and East China Seas.

They also come after a dispute between China and Vietnam that led to one of the worst breakdowns in ties since they fought a brief war in 1979.

A Chinese spy ship has been spotted off the coast of Hawaii during a giant U.S.-led naval exercise.

The vessels crashed the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) drill which involves 22 countries, 40 ships and more than 250,000 soldiers.

Despite the potential threat to U.S. security, Beijing's defence ministry said they had the right to send in the intelligence boats, even though four ships and 1,000 of their soldiers were already part of the operation.

+4

Warfare: The Chinese vessels were spotted at the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) drill where the U.S. Navy was showing off one of its new amphibious vehicles (pictured)

+4

Presence: The Chinese naval destroyer Haikou (left) and frigate Yueyang were already involved in the drill

The Navy played down any intelligence risk associated with the vessels and noted that China also sent a similar ship to monitor the same exercise two years ago.

'We've taken all necessary precautions to protect our critical information,' said Captain Darryn James, chief spokesman of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. 'We expect this ship will remain outside of U.S. territorial seas and not operate in a manner that disrupts the ongoing Rim of the Pacific maritime exercise.'

In a statement, China's Defence Ministry, said its naval vessels had the right under international law to operate 'in waters outside of other country's territorial waters'.

'China respects the rights granted under international law to relevant littoral states, and hopes that relevant countries can respect the legal rights Chinese ships have,' it added.

U.S. officials hope China's participation in RIMPAC will help resolve tensions but analysts believe their presence may help Beijing strengthen its naval capability,

+4

Military might: The drill off the coast of Hawaii involves 22 nations, as well as 49 surface ships (including new U.S. machinery), and more than 200 aircraft

The U.S. also conducts surveillance operations in international waters and airspace and the Navy did not voice protest over the appearance of the vessel.

Still, James said he was unaware of any participant doing something similar since the RIMPAC drills began in 1971.

'To my knowledge, this is the first time a nation has ever sent a surveillance ship near Hawaii while also having invited ships participating in the RIMPAC exercise,' James said.

The Chinese ships participating in the drills are missile destroyer Haikou, missile frigate Yueyang, supply ship Qiandaohu and hospital ship Peace Ark. 

+4

Future of warfare: The US displayed a prototype of its new amphibious transport vehicle, the Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connecter (UHAC). It can drive onto the shore and scale objects up to three metres high on land

The exercises come at a time when tensions are high between Beijing and U.S. allies such as Japan and the Philippines over China's pressing of territorial claims in the South and East China Seas.

They also come after a dispute between China and Vietnam that led to one of the worst breakdowns in ties since they fought a brief war in 1979.

During the drill, the U.S. Marines displayed  a prototype of its new amphibious transport vehicle.

The Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connecter (UHAC) concept is designed to power across the water with a payload of nearly 200 tons at up to 20 knots (23 mph).

It is capable of driving up on to the shore and over the top of obstructions up to 10 ft (3 m) high

 

Russian spy chiefs ordered Anna Chapman to seduce whistleblower Edward Snowden, claims defector  Ex-KGB agent Boris Karpichkov makes claims over proposal background Alleges that plan was launched for Chapman to keep Snowden in Moscow This would be so the Russians could continue to question him, he claims They apparently met just once - but Chapman proposed in tweet last year +6 Ex-spy: Anna Chapman has become a celebrity in Russia since she was deported there four years ago Former intelligence agent Anna Chapman was told by Russian spy chiefs to seduce Edward Snowden, a defector claimed today. Ex-KGB agent Boris Karpichkov alleged that a plan was launched for Chapman, 32, to keep US whistleblower Snowden, 31, in Moscow - so the Russians could continue to question him. The two were said to have met just once - but Chapman proposed in a tweet in July 2013. Mr Karpichkov told journalist Nigel Nelson for the Sunday People: ‘If Snowden had accepted he would have a right to Russian citizenship. That would lock him in Russia. As a citizen he’d need permission to leave.’ Mr Karpichkov - who fled to Britain after 15 years as a KGB agent, but is still in contact with sources in Moscow - said Snowden became ‘concerned about what the consequences would be’ of being attached to Chapman. Former Conservative MP Rupert Allason, better-known now as spy writer Nigel West, said that Chapman was ‘sophisticated enough to live with an American’. Mr Allason told the Sunday People: ‘There aren’t many of those in the FSB (formerly the KGB). She would be prepared to use her obvious gifts.’ In September 2013, Chapman refused to answer questions about the proposal in a bizarre five-minute interview with NBC, and walked out after she was asked about the tweet. She has never publicly commented on it. Chapman, the daughter of a senior KGB agent, was arrested in 2010 with nine others, accused of working for a spy ring for Russia's external intelligence agency. +6 Edward Snowden is wanted in the US after leaking classified details of government surveillance programmes   Anna Chapman was arrested in 2010 with nine others, accused of working for a spy ring for Russia's external intelligence agency. She pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy and was deported back to Russia in 2010 She pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy and was deported back to Russia in July 2010 as part of a prisoner swap. She has since become a celebrity in Russia. She married British public schoolboy Alex Chapman in 2002 and the pair moved to London, but divorced in 2006. When unmasked as a Russian agent, she was stripped of her British passport. Since returning to Moscow, Chapman - dubbed a 'femme fatale' - has carved out a lucrative career as a TV presenter, model and owner of a fashion brand. Question: They were said to have met just once - but Chapman proposed to Snowden in a tweet in July 2013 In the spotlight: Since returning to Moscow, Chapman has carved out a lucrative career as a TV presenter, model and owner of a fashion brand Snowden left his long-term girlfriend Lindsay Mills in Hawaii when he fled the US, and was granted asylum in Moscow in August 2013, after six weeks of waiting at the city's airport. In the summer Snowden was reunited in Russia with Miss Mills, a pole-dancer. The pair were pictured together on a theatre date in Moscow. Snowden now has a three-year residency permit. He is wanted in the US after leaking classified details of government surveillance programmes. His critics view him as a traitor, while supporters see him as a hero who spoke up for civil liberties.

 

Ten of the greatest: Espionage coups

 

From the Enigma cipher machine used during World War II to the Cambridge spies, The Enigma cipher machine was the basis of German secret communications during World War II. The chances of anyone who didn't know the settings being able to break it were infinitesimal, and so the Germans believed it to be impregnable. The code-breakers at Bletchley Park, a collection of Britain's most brilliant mathematicians and intellectuals, were aided in their task by a design flaw in the machine and errors by German operators. From 1940 they were decrypting German intelligence signals picked up by wireless intercept stations and producing a stream of material codenamed 'Ultra', which Churchill described as the secret weapon that won the war.

The Engima cipher machine was the basis of German secret communications during World War II but there was a design flaw in the machine and errors by German operators

 

2. GEORGE SCOVELL, 1812

Scovell  was a forerunner of the code-breakers of the 20th century. A member of Wellington's staff during the Peninsular War with the French, Scovell was responsible for intercepting and decoding the enemy's communications, which then were made by enciphered dispatch. In spring 1811 the French, aware that their codes were being cracked, introduced something more sophisticated. Scovell cracked it in two days. At the end of 1811 they brought in the Great Paris Code. Scovell set to work, and by December 1812, when a letter to Napoleon was intercepted, he was able to decipher it and thus provide Wellington with information vital to his victory in June 1813. In later life he was knighted and became a general and Governor of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Sir George Sovell was responsible for intercepting and decoding the enemy's communications during the Peninsula War with the French

3. THE CAMBRIDGE SPIES, 1934

Probably the ablest group of spies ever to work for a foreign intelligence service. They were recruited during the Thirties by Arnold Deutsch of the OGPU, predecessor of the KGB. First was Kim Philby, who later joined MI6. Philby recommended Donald Maclean of the Foreign Office and Guy Burgess of the BBC and later MI6. Burgess recommended Anthony Blunt, who worked for MI5; Blunt recommended John Cairncross of the Foreign Office. Between them these five provided their Soviet masters with a stream of information from the heart of the British government.

 

 

 

Anthony Blunt and four others formed the ablest group of spies ever to work for a foreign intelligence service

4. ELYESA BAZNA (CICERO), 1943

Elyesa Bazna (Cicero), valet to the British ambassador to Turkey during WWII, photographed documents and sold the film to the Germans - but they didn't make as much use of his material as they could have. After the war, when Bazna tried to spend his ill-gotten gains, he discovered the Germans had paid him in counterfeit money. He was played by James Mason  in Five Fingers in 1952.

 

 

 

James Mason (right) played Elyesa Bazna (Cicero) in Five Fingers in 1952

5. APHRA BEHN, 1666

Aphra Behn was a writer whose wit and ability brought her to the attention of the court of Charles II. After the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665, Behn was recruited to go as a political spy to Antwerp. She cultivated many contacts and sent a stream of reports back home, notably giving advance warning of a Dutch operation to sail up the Thames and burn the English ships. Unfortunately most of her information was disregarded and she was never paid. Having spent all her money in the King's service, she was thrown into a debtors' prison. On her release, disgusted with political service, she supported herself by writing and became one of the first English female professional writers.

Aphra Behn was recruited to go as a political spy to Antwerp in 1665 after the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War

6. KLAUS FUCHS, 1944

In 1949, to the shock of Western governments, the Soviet Union exploded a test atomic bomb - a coup for the Russians, but the beginning of a new, more dangerous, phase in the Cold War.

At about the same time, newly decrypted Soviet intelligence messages revealed that plans of the first US atomic bomb had been leaked late in WWII by a British scientist.

An investigation pointed to several possible traitors, and under questioning Klaus Fuchs, a physicist who had worked in the U.S. on the Manhattan Project, admitted he had given the Soviets all the information he had about the bomb. Fuchs, a German communist who had come to Britain before the war and had been given British nationality to work on top-secret projects, was one of several scientists to betray atomic secrets.

 

 

 

Physicist Klaus Fuchs (left) admitted he had given the Soviet Union all the information he had about the atomic bomb (right) which they exploded in 1944

Colonel Oleg Penkovsky provided MI6 with details about Soviet missiles in 1960

7. OLEG PENKOVSKY, 1962

Penkovsky was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) officer, who first approached the Americans in 1960, but was rejected by the CIA. MI6 believed he was genuine, and in their hands he provided details about Soviet missiles and guidance systems, which revealed that the Soviets weren't as advanced as the West had thought.

His information proved vital in defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was betrayed, arrested in October 1962 and executed. His courier, British businessman Greville Wynne, was arrested and later released in a spy swap.

8. FRANCIS WALSINGHAM, 1586

I've never much liked Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's spymaster, but I admire the patience and tradecraft that brought about his great espionage coup. Elizabeth refused to condemn Mary Queen of Scots without evidence of a plot, so Walsingham sent an agent to Mary, posing as a Catholic friend, who suggested to her a secret system of communicating via messages stuffed in beer casks. She later used the system to give her consent to an invasion plot by Anthony Babington, with Spanish collusion. Babington was arrested and died under torture and Elizabeth agreed to Mary's execution.

 

 

 

Francis Walsingham (left) tricked Mary Queen of Scots (left, being executed) into giving her consent to an invasion plot against Elizabeth I

9. CROSS SYSTEM, 1941

The messages deciphered at Bletchley Park gave MI5 early warning of German spies being sent to Britain, with the result that most were easily picked up and imprisoned or executed. It occurred to MI5 that it would be more useful to persuade the captured spies, in return for their lives, to work for the British by double-crossing the Germans, and thus began the Double Cross system, by which a stream of disinformation was fed to the Nazis. By spring 1942, it was clear that MI5 controlled all the agents operating in Britain and that the Germans were being successfully deceived by their inaccurate reports. Double Cross agents fed false information on the location of V1 and V2 rocket landings, causing the programming to be altered, and played a vital part in misleading Hitler about the location of the D-Day landings.

A wireless message sent to the Germans by Spanish born double-agent Juan Pujol Garcia, code named Garbo

10. OLEG GORDIEVSKY, 1983

Former Soviet spy Oleg Gordievsky receives the Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and Saint George from Queen Elizabeth II