Deception Read Online Free

curiosities. Why are Russians and Ukrainians involved in what looks like a large money-smuggling operation in Zimbabwe? That could just be people from one corrupt country turning a profit in a place with a similar business culture. But the story is about more than that. One of this operation’s patrons appears to have been a Harare-based Russian intelligence officer – Ms Chapman’s father. That links the world of Russian espionage (itself often overlapping with organised crime, as we have seen in previous chapters) with the questionable money-transfer business in Harare. The nature of that business is odd too. As noted, spy agencies love the ability to make untraceable payments for clandestine purposes. Finally, the British dimension adds extra spice. In short, an enterprise able to make large numbers of effectively untraceable transactions all over the world, based in one of the most lawless countries imaginable, and with personal ties to Russian intelligence, was operating under the noses of the British authorities. It also had a phantom owner.
    Within a month of his marriage breaking up Ms Chapman’s husband Alex ceased to be a director. The only remaining director then was Mr ‘Sugden’. The name, date of birth and signature fit a man of that name, a married father of two who works in the telecoms business in Tunbridge Wells – but the Kentish Mr Sugden has never met the Chapmans or heard of Southern Union. 25
    An obvious place to find answers to these questions would be Southern Union’s accountants, Manningtons of Heathfield, East Sussex. But its senior partner Alan Staples, whose signature appears on the company documents, says he has no instructions that permit him to answer my repeated questions about the circumstances in which his reputable firm registered the company; or whether he or colleagues met in person with anyone purporting to be ‘Steven Sugden’; or took any steps to verify his identity. The main bank involved was HSBC. It declines to comment on whether it has ever had a banking relationship with Southern Union or any company trading under that name. Mr Chapman declines to comment on the circumstances in which ‘Mr Sugden’ became a co-director, or indeed on anything relating to Southern Union. It is unclear why the signature used by the director ‘Steven P. Sugden’ varies between documents but on some occasions is the same as the signature of the real Mr Sugden of Tunbridge Wells.
    All this is odd enough. But the mystery deepens when we follow Mr ‘Sugden’ on his purported move to Ireland. The trail leads to Rossmore Grove, a cul-de-sac in the plush Templeogue south-western suburb of Dublin, coincidentally not far from the Russian embassy. According to documents at Companies House in London, Mr Sugden moved there in 2006 , first ostensibly to number 10 , then to number 12 . This is odd. Templeogue is misspelled on more than half a dozen documents. One thing that people tend to get right is their own address. Much odder is that James Farrell, the owner of 10 Rossmore Grove for the past thirty years, has never heard of either a Steven Sugden or of Southern Union. The neighbouring house, 12 Rossmore Grove, was until recently rented out to a number of East European (mainly Polish or Lithuanian) migrant workers. Nobody there recalls a Steve Sugden either. (Nor, incidentally, have the British or Irish authorities approached the occupants.) Only on 1 September 2010 , more than a month after the spy scandal broke, did someone purporting to be Steven Sugden apply to have Southern Union struck from the register. It was dissolved on 1 Feburary 2011 .
    A strange clue to this mystery comes from Zimbabwe, where a Steven Sugden works for Mr Sharpe, at his company Augur Investments, a Ukrainian company registered in Estonia. A profile for a ‘Steven Sugden’ on an obscure social-networking site called Hi 5 claims the same 20 / 05 / 74 birth date