It began, almost four years ago, with an unusually large figure in an obscure government spreadsheet. It ended in a national exposé, broadcast on BBC Panorama this week, about how Thurrock council was seemingly cheated out of £130m by the rogue businessman Liam Kavanagh.
The story features a private jet, a small armoury of rifles and a million-pound diamond-encrusted watch – all paid for with public funds. As the man himself would say, the story and how this all came about is “insane”.
As some of the luxuries bought by Kavanagh flashed up on BBC One to the tune of Money by the Flying Lizards, it was hard not to chuckle at the contrast between the glamorous tale playing out to an audience of millions and the investigation’s humble origins.
Back in September 2019, gazing at that spreadsheet, I spotted that Thurrock had borrowed an eye-watering £1bn from other local authorities – several times as much as any other council. My immediate question was why.
This investigation has consumed a substantial proportion of my life ever since, not least because of the time it took to overcome the barriers that were put in our way.
When I first asked about the £1bn, Thurrock’s then (now former) chief finance officer Sean Clark said he had invested it to bring in extra money for the council. But he didn’t want to reveal which ventures he had backed or the local authorities he had borrowed from, arguing that to do so would dissuade others from doing business with Thurrock.
Clark and Thurrock then spent three years fighting our Freedom of Information requests inquiring about deals the public, and even most elected officials, had been told nothing about. By the time they were ordered to hand over the details, the council was months away from going bust.
Denied this basic information, I had to look for confidential sources for answers. Those close to Kavanagh were understandably reluctant to talk. After all, he made his staff (and even guests at a birthday party at his home) sign gagging orders. He then took legal action against a whistleblower who helped with one of our stories last year.
It took years to build enough trust to get the evidence we needed. What we eventually got our hands on proved that Kavanagh and his businesses had misled Thurrock over the value of his solar farms. It also proved that he then spent tens of millions in taxpayers’ money on a huge country estate, a yacht and a fleet of supercars.
Read the full investigation
I had suspected as much last July, but could not prove it definitively. Then, earlier this year – a breakthrough.
I learned of unpublished financial records which showed Thurrock’s money being directly spent on Kavanagh’s luxury lifestyle, proving his earlier denials had been false.
I also came into possession of an email sent by Kavanagh instructing one of his directors to give Thurrock an inflated value of his solar farms. He even brushed off the prospect of Thurrock losing money as a result. The council has since been effectively declared bankrupt, in large part due to these deals.
As a journalist, nothing is more exciting than getting hold of the piece of evidence that blows a story wide open. Except maybe putting that information to the lawyers who had insisted it was categorically untrue.
Suddenly we had the complete picture. We could trace Thurrock’s missing millions from the secret meetings in five-stars hotels, through to the reports that convinced the council to increase its investment, and then on to the accounts into which the funds were deposited.
We could also see how large amounts of it were spent – be that on crystal chandeliers, an entire wall of flat screen TVs or a £2.3m Bugatti supercar that would make Tom Cruise blush.
The contrast between this lifestyle and the residents facing years of tax increases could not be starker. The council squandered hundreds of millions. Kavanagh profited. And yet Thurrock is unable to afford £7,000 to maintain a dance group for people with learning difficulties (the group’s Just Giving appeal can be found here).
Kavanagh denies ever misleading Thurrock. He said his businesses were not responsible for the council’s investment decisions and that valuations go up and down. He also said that the terms of the deals with the council meant his businesses were free to spend the money invested as they pleased. I have tried to get a comment from Clark repeatedly, but with no luck. When Panorama went to him while he was out walking his dog, he put his head down and walked away.
As for what comes next, the big question for local residents is what will the council do to recoup some of the money it has lost? And what action will be taken against those responsible?
I look forward to finding out the answers.
