A London mailbox, Jersey holding companies, and millions in French brand deals… that’s the structure at the heart of a tax evasion case involving superstar DJ David Guetta and his ex-wife.
The ‘Titanium’ DJ and his ex-wife Cathy Lobé, once crowned king and queen of the global clubbing scene, helped set up a UK-registered marketing agency in 2011 with their business partner Raphaël Aflalo.
At the time called Be My Guest Communications Limited and later named My Love Affair Limited, the company described itself as a “brand entertainment agency”, and was branded the Guettas’ “cash mashine” by French media in 2014.
Its goal was to connect international stars with global brands and produce headline-grabbing campaigns.
Among its successes were an Iggy Pop-branded Kronenbourg can, getting Avicii into ads for the French mobile phone company Alcatel OneTouch in 2014, and a 2015 Nescafé campaign that showed the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am comparing making coffee to making music.
Both Guettas and used Jersey-based holding companies to own their shares in the agency. With a third Jersey-based company involved, more than half of My Love Affair’s shares went through Jersey.
This kind of structure, using Jersey companies as owners of other companies and trusts, isn’t unusual – and most of the time, it doesn’t give rise to any legal issues.
But in 2015 the French tax authorities began to suspect that something wasn’t adding up when it came to My Love Affair.
My Love Affair was said to operate from London, their only base there was a 193-square-foot office intended to house little more than a basic computer workstation, French media reported.
When French authorities raided My Love Affair’s Paris offices in 2015, their suspicions appeared to be confirmed: they found paperwork and contracts for French staff.
My Love Affair was handed a €1.9 million bill for their French taxes from 2011 to 2014. The company was also handed a 40% penalty for “wilful misconduct”.
After that initial decision by the Paris Tribunal administratif in 2022, Mr Aflalo appealed against the decision that his company should pay back French taxes.
My Love Affair’s lawyers argued that the Paris administrative tribunal had made a mistake by saying they were actually based in France, not London, and didn’t have enough reasons to claim this.
However, the French Conseil d’État – France’s highest administrative court – threw out the appeal last month.
Using Jersey for business…
David Guetta
The court case and resulting scrutiny over Mr Guetta’s personal tax affairs has once again brought Jersey – described as a “tax haven” by various French media – into the spotlight.
The French DJ, who is behind a host of chart-topping pop songs like ‘Titanium’ with Sia and ‘When Love Takes Over’ with Kelly Rowland, has moved between France, Portugal, Dubai and London, and has used Jersey for business since 2010.
That’s when he started a Jersey holding company, Good Records Holdings Ltd, which was one of the major owners of My Love Affair when it started.
Besides investing in My Love Affair, he also used Good Records Holdings to start two more companies, What A DJ Ltd and What A Producer Ltd, both of which are London-based.
Though Good Records Holdings still exists in Jersey, Mr Guetta owns his shares in My Love Affair directly. He currently owns 20.25% of shares.
Cathy Lobé (formerly Guetta)
Ms Lobé was married to David Guetta until 2014, when she took back her maiden name.
She was also part of setting up My Love Affair, and used the Jersey-based Miss Candies Holdings Ltd to hold her shares in 2011.
Miss Candies Holdings was struck off by the JFSC in 2023 after they didn’t file their annual return, Express found.
Ms Lobé still owns shares in My Love Affair, this time using a California-based company called Cathylicious USA.
Raphaël Aflalo
Mr Aflalo, the Guettas’ business partner, started two businesses with them: My Love Affair and Cheers App Ltd. Both are registered in the UK.
He describes himself online as an entrepreneur behind the first DJ booking app and an agency founder behind high-profile endorsements and partnerships.
When My Love Affair was formed, Mr Aflalo owned 45% of shares. David and Cathy Guetta’s respective Jersey-based holding companies owned 22.5% of shares each.
Another Jersey-based holding company, Music Invest Holdings Ltd, held the last 10%.