A Seychelles-based offshore services provider, Alpha Consulting, has lost its operating licenses following a damning investigation that exposed its role in creating anonymous UK shell companies used by Russian oligarchs, tax evaders, and money launderers. The country’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) revoked the firm’s licenses 16 months after a high-profile raid on its headquarters in the capital, Victoria. This move follows an extensive investigation by Finance Uncovered, Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), and the BBC, which shed light on the firm’s murky financial dealings.

Alpha Consulting was one of 14 offshore service providers highlighted in the Pandora Papers, a vast trove of 11.9 million leaked documents released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). These documents uncovered how the global elite exploit offshore financial structures to conceal wealth, evade taxes, and conduct questionable financial activities beyond public scrutiny.

Established in 2008, Alpha Consulting operated as a key player in an international network of Russian-speaking financial services providers based in offshore tax havens. Investigators revealed that the firm had facilitated the creation of hundreds of anonymous shell companies, many registered thousands of miles away in the United Kingdom. By using limited partnerships-a corporate structure largely exempt from UK transparency laws-Alpha Consulting helped obscure the identities of the actual owners of these companies.

One of the key methods employed by Alpha Consulting was recruiting local Seychellois citizens, often........

© Blitz