The STM Group, a cross border financial services provider, has just announced that a Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) investigation against it has been completed and that no further action will be taken.
“Alan Kentish [chief executive of STM] and his [unnamed Gibraltar-based colleague] have now been formally advised that the investigation […] has been completed and no further action will be taken,” according to the STM statement.
“No charges were ever made against the individuals.”
Earlier this year, STM moved its headquarters from Gibraltar to London.
International Adviser reached out to STM for additional comment, but none was provided.
Background
Kentish was arrested in October 2017 in relation to a 2015 tax issue involving a company client of STM.
In a statement posted on its website at the time; STM confirmed that, in November 2015, the ultimate beneficial owner of the client company, of which Kentish was a director, was involved in a tax dispute between two unnamed countries for the years 2008 to 2013 over their respective rights to the taxes “correctly” paid by the owner.
STM said Kentish then followed compliance procedures in filing two suspicious activity reports with STM’s money laundering reporting officer, both of which were sent to the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit (GFIU).
Under Gibraltar law, the GFIU had 14 days to respond regarding potential action, with a lack of response indicating no action will be taken. STM said it received no response and thus continued as normal.
However, on 19 October 2017, two years after the filing, Kentish was arrested by police in Gibraltar on the allegation of failure to disclose.
