The £150m property tycoon dubbed ‘Candyman’ who’s called his twins Monaco and Cayman (but insists it has nothing to do with his favourite tax havens)
By Sharon Churcher
Twins are called Cayman Charles Wolf and Isabella Monaco Evanthia
Candys insist that ‘Cayman’ is actually a tribute to the Porsche Cayman
The twins stand to inherit an estimated £150 million
From his exclusive Mediterranean enclave, Christian Candy has made a fortune developing luxury apartments for the ultra-wealthy elite.
Now the British property tycoon has become the proud father of twins – whom he has apparently named after two of the world’s most well-known tax havens.
Isabella Monaco Evanthia and Cayman Charles Wolf were born two weeks ago, and a source 
close to the family told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The names seem to be entirely deliberate, sticking two fingers up at the taxman.’
Mr Candy has business dealings with the Cayman Islands as well as owning a house in Monaco with his socialite wife Emily.
Yet his spokeswoman has strongly denied the suggestion their twins were named after those locations.
She insisted: ‘There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the comments from your source regarding the names Cayman and Monaco being chosen in relation to British tax or tax havens. This is factually incorrect.’
She said little Cayman’s name was actually in tribute to Mr Candy’s favourite car, the Porsche Cayman.
The £40,000 sports car might be considered a surprise choice for the multi-millionaire, as it is widely considered to be the budget version of the more refined classic 911 model, which costs up to £120,000.
Nonetheless, the spokeswoman added: ‘Christian and Emily liked the name Cayman in relation to the Porsche.’
The non-identical twins, who stand to inherit a share of their father’s estimated £150 million fortune and vast property portfolio, were delivered on February 13 at a hospital in Manhattan, where the couple also own a home. They have property in London, too.
Emily revealed that she was expecting the twins on her 31st birthday in November. Posting her ultrasound scans on a social networking site, she announced: ‘I’m having the best birthday ever. I am five-and-a-half months pregnant with twins! A mini Christian and a mini me…world get ready. I feel utterly blessed and a little nervous.’
A friend of the couple, who reportedly met on a blind date five years ago, said: ‘Some people might be a little reticent about putting up intimate photographs online, but Emily is so thrilled she wants to share her news with everybody.’
Mr Candy, 39, and his 40-year-old brother Nick – who is married to singer and actress Holly Valance – are self-made millionaires, amassing their vast fortune in less than 15 years.
Their most famous development is London’s One Hyde Park, an exclusive residential glass tower in Knightsbridge, reputedly the most expensive apartment block in the world. It is owned by Project Grande (Guernsey) Ltd, a joint venture between Candy & Candy and Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, who is the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar.
The sheik’s firm, Park One, is registered in the British overseas territory of the Cayman Islands, a chain of Caribbean atolls known for its generous tax regime.
The Candys made their fortune from a modest start, turning in a £50,000 profit on a flat they bought for £122,000 in Earls Court, London, with the help of a £6,000 loan from their grandmother.
In 2011, the Candys’ combined wealth, earned through their companies Candy & Candy and CPC Group, was estimated at £300 million, but some experts now say it could be closer to £1 billion, if reported recent sales are taken into account.
In 2010, they sold the most expensive three-bedroom flat in history – which also happens to be in Monaco – for an eye-watering £200 million.
They bought the Belle Epoque penthouse for about £10 million, then spent around £26 million renovating it before selling it to an anonymous investor, believed to be an Arab sheik.
The brothers went on to develop One Hyde Park, which was unveiled in 2011 at a lavish party with a guest list that included Bernie Ecclestone, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Lineker.
There were complaints from local councillors that the flats, which were marketed at prices from £3.6 million for a one-bedroom home to £136 million for a penthouse, were a haven for tax-dodgers. According to one analysis of public records, 25 of the registered owners were companies in the British Virgin Islands.
Other offshore tax paradises used to purchase the properties reportedly included Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein and Liberia.
Buyers were also accused of dodging council tax. Labour MP Karen Buck said: ‘It is scandalous that residents in luxury apartments can avoid their share of council tax liability. It sometimes seems as if the more money you have, the less you are required to pay.’
However, the Candy brothers’ spokeswoman said they were not responsible for registering properties for council tax, but added that all the buyers paid the relevant stamp duty.
She added: ‘Once the apartment is sold, it is not the developer’s responsibility to register the new owner with the council. This is the responsibility of the owner.’
For more on this story go to:
