shell company

noun

1. a near-defunct company, esp one with a stock-exchange listing, used as a vehicle for a thriving company

2. a company that has ceased to trade but retains its registration and is sold for a small sum to enable its new owners to avoid the cost and trouble of registering a new company

Example Sentences

Kwan had collected different poisons and ingredients bought under a shell company he had set up out his workplace, Happy House Surgery, which he told colleagues was formed to manage his properties, the tribunal heard.

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Police also found links to a shell company in the UAE which had allegedly been used to launder £4.9m of advertising revenue since 2010, as well as £150,000 in cryptocurrency.

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Investigators also identified a shell company possibly used to launder the advertising revenue, which totaled to around $6.2 million, and an investment of $200,000 in cryptocurrency.

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On Aug. 1, federal prosecutors filing a legal brief alleging that taxpayer funds from the county went into a slush fund held by a shell company to help pay for its illegal activities.

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A couple hours down the coast, Ellen DeGeneres and mining tycoon Robert Friedland — more specifically, a shell company linked to Friedland — engaged in a high-end home swap in Santa Barbara.

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