TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.
British banker who threw himself under a train was helping Barça FC's Lionel Messi stash his cash, says UK press
08/08/2014
A BRITISH bank manager who committed suicide last year due to 'work-related stress' is believed to have helped to stash the multi-millions in image rights earned by Barça FC footballer Lionel Messi.
The firm of which 62-year-old David Waygood, from Kemsing in Kent, UK, was sole director is said to be among several companies outside of Spain where the Argentinian player's money was hidden, according to reports in British tabloids The Mirror and The Daily Mail, as well as local press in the Kent area.
Some 3.75 million euros were reportedly placed in 'front' companies in the UK, Belice, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes in Spain.
Mr Waygood's firm is said to have held shares in a nominee company in the UK, whereby the nominees own or control the company on another party's behalf based upon agreements between both which are top-secret.
A former HSBC and NatWest employee who lived on Sherborne Grove in Kemsing, David Waygood left a suicide note last year for his adult children James – who had been staying with his father due concerns about his welfare - and Lizzie, and then threw himself under a train in Otford (county of Kent, UK) on April 27.
His company was facing investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority, and the stress of this is thought to have been the last straw.
A coroner confirmed Mr Waygood's death was caused by suicide after an inquest six months later in Tunbridge Wells.
Suicidal businessman 'in treatment and counselling'
He was seen by the driver of the 08.32hrs from Sevenoaks to Blackfriars, standing on a footpath near the crossing on the famous Pilgrim's Way immortalised in The Canterbury Tales, a few metres back from the track.
The depressed banker stepped onto the track and stood facing the train head-on with his hands held up as the driver sounded the horn, according to Mr Waygood's local newspaper, The Sevenoaks Chronicle.
Assistant coroner, Mr Alan Blundson, was told that despite braking straight away and as hard as he could, the driver was unable to avoid the suicidal bank boss and ploughed straight through his head.
Paramedics on site did everything they could to save him, to no avail, and he was declared dead just 40 minutes after stepping in front of the oncoming train.
James said he had been staying with his father to keep him company and keep an eye on him, and that the banker was in treatment at his local health centre where the doctor described him as distressed and depressed.
Mr Waygood was in counselling, but when he missed an appointment the police were sent to his home to check on him.
According to The Sevenoaks Chronicle, officer Martin Rolf from the British Transport Police said he and colleagues talked to the deceased at length and decided he was 'not a risk to himself or others'.
Mr Waygood apparently said he had missed his appointment through oversleeping, since he had been suffering from severe insomnia as a result of his stress, and apologised for any trouble he may have caused the police or medics taking care of him.
He had been diagnosed sleeping pills and was 'looking forward to' getting a good rest as a result, and is said to have thanked officers for their concern, but understood why they may have been worried.
The deceased insisted he had no thoughts of suicide at that time.
This was just five days before he walked in front of the train.
Charity starter 'compelled to help'
In the recent years before his death, David Waygood appeared to have been enjoying life and work and had a good relationship with his children.
On his Twitter site, @haaystook, he wrote: “If you believe in change it can happen. Sometime [sic] it happens when least expected.”
This was in September 2009, when he appeared to have met someone special recently, shown by a later Tweet, “I have never listened to Allegri's Miserere with someone I feel about more passionately than I feel about the music.”
Later that same month, he wrote: “All these people are following me [on Twitter]. Dunno why, but you're welcome.”
Other upbeat messages include how he was watching his son-in-law 'prepare a fantastic curry' and, just six months before his death, talking about 'glorious weather' in Kent and spending a weekend evening in the Albert Hall.
His last Tweet was on Hallowe'en in 2012, and he passed away in April 2013.
Weeks earlier, Waygood had set up the charity Siblings United to provide funds so that all brothers and sisters could be adopted by the same family.
He had heard the plight of a couple on the radio who had wanted to take on the siblings of their adopted child, but could not afford to keep three kids.
Warm-hearted Mr Waygood said he had a 'strange and powerful feeling' that he had 'no choice but to help', and added that he 'couldn't bear to think' about how it would have affected him if the two brothers he grew up with had been separated from him in childhood.
World Player of the Year 'has no specialist financial knowledge'
Lionel Messi, 27, and his dad Jorge have been charged with tax evasion, although both men have maintained all along that they knew nothing about what was happening to their money and simply placed it in the hands of their accountants to deal with.
Jorge Messi is said to be the one who handles the finances and corresponds with his and his son's accountants.
According to the Spanish tax department, the two men had filed 'fraudulent' returns for four consecutive years up to and including 2009.
To settle the issue, Lionel Messi handed over six million euros to the Spanish tax office last year to wipe out his debt, but as the amount 'defrauded' is over 120,000 euros, this is considered a criminal offence in Spain and in his case, could carry a jail sentence of up to six years.
Initially, the prosecution service called for the charges to be dropped on the basis of the cash having been refunded and the fact that Messi and his father do not have specialist knowledge of financial and fiscal affairs in Spain, but the Spanish court intends to go ahead with the trial, insisting the player must have been aware that 'front' companies with no commercial activity had been set up to launder his earnings.
A date for the hearing has not as yet been set.
Related Topics
A BRITISH bank manager who committed suicide last year due to 'work-related stress' is believed to have helped to stash the multi-millions in image rights earned by Barça FC footballer Lionel Messi.
The firm of which 62-year-old David Waygood, from Kemsing in Kent, UK, was sole director is said to be among several companies outside of Spain where the Argentinian player's money was hidden, according to reports in British tabloids The Mirror and The Daily Mail, as well as local press in the Kent area.
Some 3.75 million euros were reportedly placed in 'front' companies in the UK, Belice, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes in Spain.
Mr Waygood's firm is said to have held shares in a nominee company in the UK, whereby the nominees own or control the company on another party's behalf based upon agreements between both which are top-secret.
A former HSBC and NatWest employee who lived on Sherborne Grove in Kemsing, David Waygood left a suicide note last year for his adult children James – who had been staying with his father due concerns about his welfare - and Lizzie, and then threw himself under a train in Otford (county of Kent, UK) on April 27.
His company was facing investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority, and the stress of this is thought to have been the last straw.
A coroner confirmed Mr Waygood's death was caused by suicide after an inquest six months later in Tunbridge Wells.
Suicidal businessman 'in treatment and counselling'
He was seen by the driver of the 08.32hrs from Sevenoaks to Blackfriars, standing on a footpath near the crossing on the famous Pilgrim's Way immortalised in The Canterbury Tales, a few metres back from the track.
The depressed banker stepped onto the track and stood facing the train head-on with his hands held up as the driver sounded the horn, according to Mr Waygood's local newspaper, The Sevenoaks Chronicle.
Assistant coroner, Mr Alan Blundson, was told that despite braking straight away and as hard as he could, the driver was unable to avoid the suicidal bank boss and ploughed straight through his head.
Paramedics on site did everything they could to save him, to no avail, and he was declared dead just 40 minutes after stepping in front of the oncoming train.
James said he had been staying with his father to keep him company and keep an eye on him, and that the banker was in treatment at his local health centre where the doctor described him as distressed and depressed.
Mr Waygood was in counselling, but when he missed an appointment the police were sent to his home to check on him.
According to The Sevenoaks Chronicle, officer Martin Rolf from the British Transport Police said he and colleagues talked to the deceased at length and decided he was 'not a risk to himself or others'.
Mr Waygood apparently said he had missed his appointment through oversleeping, since he had been suffering from severe insomnia as a result of his stress, and apologised for any trouble he may have caused the police or medics taking care of him.
He had been diagnosed sleeping pills and was 'looking forward to' getting a good rest as a result, and is said to have thanked officers for their concern, but understood why they may have been worried.
The deceased insisted he had no thoughts of suicide at that time.
This was just five days before he walked in front of the train.
Charity starter 'compelled to help'
In the recent years before his death, David Waygood appeared to have been enjoying life and work and had a good relationship with his children.
On his Twitter site, @haaystook, he wrote: “If you believe in change it can happen. Sometime [sic] it happens when least expected.”
This was in September 2009, when he appeared to have met someone special recently, shown by a later Tweet, “I have never listened to Allegri's Miserere with someone I feel about more passionately than I feel about the music.”
Later that same month, he wrote: “All these people are following me [on Twitter]. Dunno why, but you're welcome.”
Other upbeat messages include how he was watching his son-in-law 'prepare a fantastic curry' and, just six months before his death, talking about 'glorious weather' in Kent and spending a weekend evening in the Albert Hall.
His last Tweet was on Hallowe'en in 2012, and he passed away in April 2013.
Weeks earlier, Waygood had set up the charity Siblings United to provide funds so that all brothers and sisters could be adopted by the same family.
He had heard the plight of a couple on the radio who had wanted to take on the siblings of their adopted child, but could not afford to keep three kids.
Warm-hearted Mr Waygood said he had a 'strange and powerful feeling' that he had 'no choice but to help', and added that he 'couldn't bear to think' about how it would have affected him if the two brothers he grew up with had been separated from him in childhood.
World Player of the Year 'has no specialist financial knowledge'
Lionel Messi, 27, and his dad Jorge have been charged with tax evasion, although both men have maintained all along that they knew nothing about what was happening to their money and simply placed it in the hands of their accountants to deal with.
Jorge Messi is said to be the one who handles the finances and corresponds with his and his son's accountants.
According to the Spanish tax department, the two men had filed 'fraudulent' returns for four consecutive years up to and including 2009.
To settle the issue, Lionel Messi handed over six million euros to the Spanish tax office last year to wipe out his debt, but as the amount 'defrauded' is over 120,000 euros, this is considered a criminal offence in Spain and in his case, could carry a jail sentence of up to six years.
Initially, the prosecution service called for the charges to be dropped on the basis of the cash having been refunded and the fact that Messi and his father do not have specialist knowledge of financial and fiscal affairs in Spain, but the Spanish court intends to go ahead with the trial, insisting the player must have been aware that 'front' companies with no commercial activity had been set up to launder his earnings.
A date for the hearing has not as yet been set.
Related Topics
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