Mishcon de Reya, a U.K. corporate law firm, received direct payments from Quantus Division Ltd., a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company at the core of the Troika Laundromat.
The money — sent in one installment of £225,000 (about $445,000) in June 2007 and another of £2.1 million ($4.3 million) in July followed by £780 (about $1,500) in September — was spent on an elite flat in central London. (Mishcon also received some £92,000 (about $154,000) from Quantus for “legal services” over a period of several years.)
Documents relating to the property transaction show that another BVI company, Blueray investments, became owner of the flat. The owner of Blueray is unknown.
Castway Management Ltd., another Troika Laundromat company, sent over £6,200 (almost $11,000) to the language education company Berlitz on Sept. 11, 2008, for “English lesson courses” for someone who used the flat’s address.
Mishcon’s high-profile clients have included Princess Diana and Russian banker Vladimir Antonov.
According to a columnist for The Guardian, the law firm had “consistently threatened and harassed” murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and had “sought to cripple her financially with libel action in UK courts” as she worked to expose corruption on the island.
Mishcon countered that Caruana Galizia made “false and defamatory” allegations about Henley & Partners, an international company that helps customers obtain residence permits and sometimes citizenship in a variety of countries, including Malta.
In August 2018, The Guardian reported that Mishcon had filed a complaint against new U.K. anti-tax evasion measures, arguing they infringed on privacy and data protection rights.
In response to requests for comment, the law firm said it has “robust anti-money laundering processes and an expert Risk & Compliance Team” to comply with regulations.
