Thread by @tomburgis

*** NEW @FT INVESTIGATION ***

Mohamed Amersi calls himself “a renowned global communications entrepreneur, philanthropist and thought leader”. He's given some of his fortune to the Conservatives - a fortune made in part in Putin's Russia. (1/9)

ft.com/content/5dab0a…

The $4m Amersi made from a 2005 telecoms deal came from a company in a group that was, a Swiss tribunal ruled the following year, secretly owned by Putin's telecoms minister Leonid Reiman. Reiman (2nd right) denies that. Amersi says he believed the owner was a Danish lawyer (2/9)

Amersi mixed with other powerful figures in Russia and went on to do deals elsewhere in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. (3/9)

Switching to philanthropy, Amersi developed connections in the UK, where he holds citizenship. Here he is with his partner Nadia and the Duchess of Cornwall, aunt to Ben Elliot, founder of the "concierge" firm for the super-rich, Quintessentially. (4/9) gettyimages.nl/detail/nieuwsf…

Amersi, a Quintessentially client, became a Conservative donor - and Elliot the party's co-chair. The £500,000 Amersi has given to the Tories has bought him a place in the Leaders Group, with access to ministers. (5/9) ft.com/content/e1735d… @Tabby_Kinder @DanielThomasLDN

Now Amersi has set up a new group to help manage Conservative relations with the Middle East. He says the patron will be Theresa May, the former prime minister, with other senior Tories also involved. (6/9) amersifoundation.org/the-opening-of…

Last year Charlotte Leslie, an ex-MP who runs the current group that takes Tory delegations to the Middle East, wrote memos raising concerns about Amersi. In response he spent £300,000 on lawyers including Carter Ruck to demand she retract them. (7/9)

The party’s board has to decide whether to grant formal affiliation to Amersi’s Middle East group. Meanwhile, a Tory peer is trying to mediate between Amersi and Leslie. (8/9)

It’s a tale from the inner sanctum of British democracy: the place where money and power meet. After the Greensill scandal and wallpaper-gate, the Conservatives’ money machine is once more in the spotlight. (9/9) ft.com/content/5dab0a… @maxseddon @SebastianEPayne @FinancialTimes