Lifting the lid on the corrupt Berwin Leighton Paisner and its associated companies

This is a letter sent to the co-chair of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Lisa Mayhew, today

By email and Royal Mail

Ms Lisa Mayhew

Co- Chair

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Governors House

5 Laurence Pountney Hill,

London

EC4R 0BR

23^rd May 2022

Dear Ms Mayhew,

The Hender Family Settlement

Adriatic Sea Corporation Limited

Paicolex Trust Management AG

I have now communicated with you for a number of years, albeit in one direction. I am sick and tired of all of this, as I am sure that you are too.

My father’s activities are wrapped up in the family, BLP, The Masons and Paicolex ; so everything is relevant

Let me first remind you of what my father has done to me or instructed to have done to me, whether through Paicolex or not.

All is fact and supported by documentary or medical evidence

• He sexually abused me, starting when I was between 11 or 12; The damage done to me, as a result of the abuse, is irreparable, with the symptoms likened to severe IBS; embarrassment prevents me from going into further details.
• He bribed my daughter into falsely accusing me of her sexual abuse and actual bodily harm. That nightmare lasted 4 months, after which the case was thrown out by the police and the CPS. The trauma included having my home ripped apart, so much so that it has been so violated, as if it was raped that I no longer want to live here and have not don’t so for 6 YEARS
• He tried to bribe me with a payment of £250,000 to leave the country; I refused, as I will never be bribed or bullied.
• He incited my daughter and her mother to falsely accuse me of harassment. I was illegally arrested, for failure to attend a voluntary interview and for defamation and dragged out of my house and taken to Newport Police Station, where I was interrogated for hours. The forcible extraction from my house and “safe zone” caused a catatonic attack as I was and am still suffering from extreme agoraphobia. I was released on bail, although I was never formerly charged.
• A week before the trial date, the immense stress that I was suffering meant I wished to kill myself as I could no longer take the pain anymore. I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital on the mainland but had to leave after 3 weeks, because I had already paid £20,000. I asked for financial assistance from the trust, but this was refused by Clare Edwards and my father, even though I had previously sacrificed my business to look after my late mother, who had Alzheimer’s and my father who was suffering from heart problems.
• I had no alternative but to discharge myself and find other accommodation. This turned out to be a run down hotel in Guildford, filled with drug addicts and homeless people. I was there for 3 months during the pandemic.
• No one knew where I was at this time
• I then received a call for help from my cousin and drove up to her house in Wales to be her fulltime carer, as she has supposedly had a bad fall, although nothing was broken, a bonus given that she is in her 70s. This was a ruse to “flush me out”, as a day later, she confessed she had contacted my father. Two days later, the police turned up at her house and arrested me. I was then put on remand by a judge in Swansea Prison for being a flight risk
• She sent me a message whilst I was in prison saying that she had taken her two dogs to the beach and had a wonderful time. One of her dogs is a husky that pulls like a train, as they are bred like that. Before I was arrested, she could not even walk her more passive dog whilst I was there.
• Even given her “injuries”, she was able to lift my heavy bags, printer and computer into my 4×4 and drive it onto the road, even though, whilst I was there. she struggled to even just climb into it. I drive a Landcruiser Amazon, the most powerful and largest 4×4 on the road, which I use to tow 3 ton trailers.
• After one month of being on suicide watch, I was released with a suspended sentence. I still keep the light on outside my bedroom.
• It later turned out that I was never formally charged of any offence but this was ignored by the corrupt masonic judge.
• Since taking over from Thomas Meier, I have been battling with Clare Edwards. She stated many times that:
• I had been paid the same amount as my brother
• Ron Downhill had retired and was no longer involved with the settlement
• My brother’s loan of £1.4M had been fully paid
• I know all of the above to be completely false

The only other thing that my father could do to hurt me further is to arrange for a bullet to be put through my head.

I proved that:

1. Ron Downhill was still the tax and legal advisor to the trust
2. He, along with my father and brother, attended a meeting at a Masonic Temple, below your offices, with the specific aim of removing me as a beneficiary. This failed because the trust deed was watertight
3. My brother had been paid an additional £200,000 of dividends in 2017/8
4. My brother had not repaid the loan, as the underlying principal was still outstanding in the latest accounts of my brother’s company, as disclosed in those accounts
5. Clare Edwards had falsified the satisfaction of charge filing
6. The loan taken out by my brother was interest free, whereas I was charged 2% over base. This is contrary to the Trustees Acts of 2000 and , as all beneficiaries must be treated equally.
7. He committed perjury during my divorce hearing held at Worthing Family Court before District Judge Clarke {Case number HB14D00110}, in July 2015, whereby he, under oath stated that “he treated both sons equally” but knowingly perjured himself as, at that moment, he had already arranged for the payment of £245,000 to my brother, Martin William Hender {and a further £300,000 in the following tax year} in direct contravention of the Perjury Act 1911

• Clare Edwards had unilaterally inserted an amount into the bona fidei loan balance due from me (but disputed as a result of the legal claim by my ex wife against my father for breach of a verbal and witnessed contract and for breach of promise); this was not included in the signed, sealed and executed loan agreement between myself and Adriatic Sea Corporation. This amount was then immediately deducted from my dividend, with the rest carried forward. At this point, I refused to pay any additional interest
• Clare Edwards and Andrew Lugg then imposed a repayment schedule, even though there was no such suggestion of repayment in the loan agreement. The repayments were calculated on a figure that was unilaterally added (and then immediately repaid); I was paying twice but had no power or means to fight this. This was why I kept on writing to you, asking for help that never came.
• That Verity Hender and Samantha Parkinson have knowingly conspired with William Thomas Hender, the trust officers of the Hender Family Settlement and specifically Mr Ron Downhill, legal and tax advisor to the same, to directly and indirectly harass me and to cause me mental and physical harm by detrimentally affecting my legally entitled sole source of income, which is contrary to the Harassment Act 2010, as superceded by the Harassment Acts of 2014 and 2019 and in contravention of the Criminal Justice Act 1977

If this was not enough, the constant stress over such a long period of time has triggered a very painful, untreatable and incurable skin condition called Prurigo Nodularis, which covers my entire body, with a cream giving only mild pain relief.

To say that I have been egregiously treated by Paicolex and BLP is an understatement, with all of the actors conspiring to literally ruin my life; William Hender, Martin Hender, John Marriott, Clare Edwards, Andrew Lugg and Ron Downhill. Their added “bonus” is that I have permanently lost my daughter, Verity, who was my world.

What I wish for is for you to please act accordingly and to discuss with me a sizeable compensation payment to enable me to start a new life and to try and heal, well away from here.

I also wish recognition to be made for all of the physical and mental harm caused by your employees and consultants.

Finally, I respectfully demand that Paicolex Trust Management AG be cleaned out once and for all, as well as dealing with those trust officers, who have egregiously breached their ethical, legal and fiduciary duties of care to the Hender Family Settlement and, to me, as joint beneficiary.

Ron Downhill is highly respected as a “tax expert”, but he is not infallible as a mistake was made in the Vendcrown legal documents that refer to the shares as “Mr Hender’s shares”. This proves that the “arrangement” was a tax evasion exercise, using Michael Cobb’s South African domiciliary status as a way to evade approximately £6m of capital gains tax and 40% of the trust’s assets in inheritance tax, when my father died. Remember that I have a copy of the Project Vendcrown bible.

My father may not be the only one exposed. Leon Du Toit Stoffberg could also be charged with tax evasion and his share of the proceeds was substantial, compared to that of my father’s.

When the tax evasion of William Hender and Leon Du Toit Stoffberg is proven in court (I have all of the documents and will gladly act for the prosecution), Ron Downhill will be charged with the facilitation of tax evasion under the Criminal Finance Act 2017 and, as he was a partner at the time, the now dissolved entire BLP partnership will be charged under the same act, under a partnership’s joint and several liability provisions. The act is retrospective as I am sure you are aware. There may not be any prison sentences but the fines will be enormous and may give rise to the collapse of the Bryan Cave Leighton partnership.

Ron Downhill must be dealt with too; he is right at the centre of all of this. His involvement is three fold. As well as the tax evasion facilitation of William Hender and Leon Stoffberg, he is a mason and must be loyal to my father, brother and any other mason. Finally, I angered him for getting Thomas Meier sacked for breach of his fiduciary duties as a trust officer, as Mr Meier is/was one of his best and closest friends.

I remind you that under the trust deed, no actions may be taken by the trust officers of Paicolex without first seeking advice from the legal and tax advisor to the trustees, that person being Ronald Downhill. Advice must have been given, otherwise the actions of the trust officers would have been ultra vires to the trust deed. Therefore, Ronald Downhill provided advice for all of the actions of the trust officers. All are culpable.

There are other matters that need to be resolved, including:

1. What to do with my brother’s £1.4M unpaid loan to Adriatic Sea Corporation and the interest that should have been paid
2. The dividend inflationary increases that were refused by Clare Edwards, Andrew Lugg and William Hender
3. The situation of the loan balance, as my ex wife is currently suing my father for breach of the verbal contract and for breach of promise, with regard to the capital settlement that I was forced to make and which represents the balance on my loan account (Approx £180,000).
4. The repayment of the balances in respect of the children of Samantha Hender and Martin Hender, made out of capital, in breach of the trust deed
5. All such payments must be disclosed on the parents’ tax returns, if they were minors (or minors in sole custody of an adult) when the payments were made, or to the children personally when they became adults.
6. The future involvement of my father,(the settlor), Martin Hender and John Marriott, Ron Downhill or any other party in The Hender Family Settlement
7. The repayment of charges applied to my income that were illegal and not in accordance with the signed and executed loan agreement of October 2015

Kind regards

David Hender