He’s infamous for his love of secrecy.

And now RadarOnline.com can reveal Tom Cruise is being slammed for splurging $223million to join the ranks of the “shadowy” residents in one of the world’s most expensive – and controversial – buildings.

The 62-year-old Mission: Impossible star spent part of his $600 million fortune on a high-security apartment at One Hyde Park in London.

While the Hollywood icon basks in luxury, his purchase is stoking growing rage over the building among London residents who are furious it shields “shady” power-players.

One source said: “This building looms over London and dominates its skyline, yet no one is allowed to know who lives there, for how long or why.

“There have been rumors for years it’s got everyone from arms dealers to on-the-run dictators and the world’s most powerful oil barons holed up there.

“Who else, after all, could afford to live there?

“It’s just a symbol of the massive gap between those who have it all, and the rest of us, who have virtually nothing.”

Cruise had been splashing $430,000 a week on his One Hyde Park penthouse, but an insider told RadarOnline.com he had taken the jump to become a permanent resident as his alleged romance with disabled singer Victoria Canal, 26, heats up in the city.

Developed by the flamboyant Candy brothers, Nick and Christian, together with Waterknights – the international property-development company owned by former Qatar prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani – his new home has repeatedly come under scrutiny for more than 10 years.

Experts have lambasted the monolithic glass-and-concrete structure as everything from an “opulent trophy project” to a “vulgar” display of wealth.

Architectural historian Professor Gavin Stamp is among its hordes of critics – and has slated it as an “over-sized gated community for people with more money than sense, arrogantly plonked down in the heart of London”.

The secrecy surrounding One Hyde Park is as thick as the bulletproof glass that lines its windows.

With advanced panic rooms and its corridors and lobbies patrolled by private guards trained by British Special Forces, the building is a fortress for the world’s elite. Residents’ email is even X-rayed before being delivered as part of its airport-style security.

Peter York, co-author of The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook about London’s posh secrets, sneered about the building: “The vibe is junior Arab dictator.”

Critics also argue the building’s emphasis on secrecy and security has turned it into a haven for the global super-rich – many of whom are believed to hide behind offshore corporations registered in tax havens.

This has led to accusations that One Hyde Park is more of a “ghost town” than a residential community – with many apartments owned by faceless corporations rather than individuals.

As Cruise settles into his new penthouse – complete with a double-height reception room, a Japanese-inspired kitchen, and a private spa – the debate over One Hyde Park’s future in London rages on.

An insider said: “Some see it as the pinnacle of luxury, but most of London – the equivalent of millions of people – hate it.

“They don’t care Cruise is there – for years they have just seen it as a glaring example of the excesses of the super-rich and a stark reminder of the widening gap between the wealthy elite and the rest of society.”

They added: “Cruise is obviously renowned for loving his secrecy – which is obvious from the way he has become one of Scientology’s most senior advocates.

“There’s a Scientology base in London very near his new complex, so it suits him down to the ground.”

An audit of activities around the building has shown its penthouses have mostly absentee owners who hide behind offshore corporations based in tax havens.

It dominates the south exit of London’s Knightsbridge subway station, with its hulking joined-up towers of glass, metal and concrete looming over the city.

Its developers hailed it as the world’s most exclusive address when it opened – as well as the most expensive residential development ever built anywhere on the planet.

It is fitted with a glass-and-steel elevator that allows residents to drive their bullet-proof vehicles straight into the basement garage – and zip unseen into their fortress apartments.

The largest of its original 86 apartments feature is pierced by 213-foot-long mirrored corridors of glass, protected by anodized aluminum and padded silk for insulation.

Slanted vertical slats on the windows stop outsiders from peering into the apartments.

Investment banker David Charters, who works in Mayfair, told Vanity Fair about the building in 2013: “One Hyde Park is a symbol of the times, a symbol of the disconnect.

“There is almost a sense of ‘the Martians have landed.’ Who are they? Where are they from? What are they doing?”

The building is shrouded in darkness at night – because most of the owners of the apartments inside spend barely any time in London.

Land-registry records show 76 apartments had been sold by January 2013 for a total of $2.7billion.

But of these, only 12 had been registered in the names of humans – with the rest under the names of faceless corporations based everywhere from California to Thailand.

Many of them are registered in well-known offshore tax havens, such as the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein, and the Isle of Man.

Arab money has swamped London, along with cash from Russia and China – with floods of it used to buy up property in the capital’s ‘golden triangle’ of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and nearby Mayfair.

Nick Candy, 51, who is married to pop singer Holly Valance, has explained One Hyde Park’s success by declaring: “This is the top city in the world, and the best tax haven in the world for some.”

In 2004, his brother Christian set up the CPC Group – registered in the tax haven of Guernsey – to handle their huge projects including the super-secret apartment block.

There has been speculation the penthouses inside have been owned by everyone from a super-rich Russian drugmaker to private bankers, tech bosses and sheikhs.

One was identified as Rinat Akhmetov, 57, known as Ukraine’s richest man and the 785th richest individual on the planet with an estimated personal net worth of $4billion.

His System Capital Management corporation – in which Akhmetov holds 100% of the shares – includes more than 100 businesses in metals and mining, power generation, banking and insurance, telecommunications, media, real estate and more.

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Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)