The BBC ‘s cameras were watching as a 39-year-old man, a wealthy businessman from Canada’s western province of Alberta, left a luxury hotel in Barbados.
The man, Anthony J. Comstock, was tiptoeing out of his hotel suite. He was preparing to fly to Antigua, in the Carribbean, to get married.
He had been invited to join some 200 other guests at this years event, which honours wealthy overseas investors and was known as “The Jewel Exchange.”
A few days earlier he’d been on a yacht fishing off the coast of the Spanish island of Tenerife.
The bride and groom had been in Antigua for six weeks for their wedding, which was not a lavish celebration but rather, a heartfelt holiday, partly funded by the gold-rich Comstock and his wealthy American guest of honour.
Although he was not sworn in as Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mr Comstock was one of the country’s richest residents, with a solid business background and extensive philanthropic ties.
His colourful lifestyle was front page news in the Canadian newspapers and his name was etched into the nation’s mining history as founder of the Comstock silver mines and owner of a big offshore company.
His personal fortune was estimated to be worth $35 million, and after meeting Mr Comstock at this yacht getaway, one reporter covering the billionaire said: “The wine was flowing, there was the problem of a teacup I was trying to clear away and by the end we were wiping our lips with each other’s arms and exchanging guffaws.”
Mr Comstock fell in love with the country and the people of the Caribbean island and he set up an offshore company named CoreCap Investments Ltd.
All the documents on Comstock have been anonymous, but what we have been able to uncover is how this offshore company can move resources and money offshore and shield their owners’ identities.