A businessman has reportedly admitted taking a ‘substantial part’ of hundreds of millions of pounds of public money from Thurrock Council for his own personal benefit.
Thurrock Council invested £655m through Liam Kavanagh, primarily towards solar farm projects, in the hope of generating returns to fund local services.
The investments failed, and the authority was effectively declared bankrupt in 2022.
The council claims it lost £130m in additional top-up payments beyond its initial solar farm investments and is currently taking legal action against the businessman.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has now seen legal documents filed in the High Court case brought by Thurrock Council, in which Kavanagh admits to receiving a large part of that money ‘for his own benefit’ and says he believed the funds he received were his to use as he wished.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: ‘Thurrock Council has received Liam Kavanagh's defence to the council's claims.
‘The council, together with its legal advisors, will consider its contents and respond through the court process.’
