Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Un-policed & often unenforceable anti-corruption laws have made the UK the global money-laundering capital for a post-Soviet elite, severely damaging Britain’s international reputation & the rule of law.

#ToryCorruption #ToryCronyism

theguardian.com/law/2021/dec/0…

Almost a quarter of the ministers who attend cabinet have accepted donations from just three well-connected ex-Russians.

Ministers whose offices or constituencies benefited include Dominic Raab, Rishi Sunak & 5 others who attend Cabinet.

#ToryCorruption
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

A Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin has secretly funded the husband of Lubov Chernukhin, a Russian-born donor to the Tory Party.

Chernukhin has given £1.7 MILLION to the @Conservatives over the past eight years

theguardian.com/politics/2020/…

In 2019, it was reported that former arms tycoon Alexander Temerko is another prominent Russian donor in Tory circles.

Temerko has spoken warmly about his “friend” Boris Johnson, gifting over £1.2 million to the Tory Party.

#ToryCorruption

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

Late in 2020, the Conservative grandee Sir Nicholas Soames received a memo about a party donor called Mohamed Amersi.

The 61-year-old Amersi describes himself as “a renowned global communications entrepreneur, philanthropist & thought leader”.

In July, the FT reported that along with his partner, he has given the party more than £750,000 since 2017.

That has bought him membership of the exclusive Leaders Group of donors and its monthly lunches with British government ministers.

ft.com/content/5dab0a…

The memo, raising concerns about Amersi's dealings in Russia, was forwarded to the man charged with bringing in the money that helps keep the Tories in power: Tory Party co-chair, Ben Elliot, founder of Quintessentially, a “concierge” company that serves the super-rich.

If the memos caused Elliot any concern, it was not enough to stop the party accepting another £50,000 of Amersi’s money on January 18.

When copies of the memos reached Amersi, his lawyers sent letters to Soames & to Charlotte Leslie, the former Tory MP who had written them.

The letters demanded that Soames and Leslie should not obstruct Amersi’s plan in effect to insert himself into one of the most sensitive areas of UK foreign policy by setting up a group to handle the @Conservatives’ relations with the Middle East.

A former cabinet member pointed to a 2019 report by parliament’s intelligence committee on Russian influence in the UK as a reason to scrutinise donations.

After the #ToryCorruption scandals, divisions over Amersi add to differences in the party about who to accept money from.

Amersi made part of his fortune doing deals in 2005 with a business empire that a Swiss tribunal found was controlled by a friend of Putin. Amersi was also accused in a separate 2006 lawsuit of trying to “extort” a $2bn payment from a businessman on behalf of a Russian oligarch.

Amersi has spent £300,000 on legal fees in a dispute with those who raised concerns about his growing influence on the @Conservatives.

The party says: “Donations to the Conservative party are properly and transparently declared", but it had no comment on Amersi’s legal dispute.

The #PandoraPapers revealed Amersi involved in telecoms corruption scandal.

Leaked documents reveal how he worked on a series of controversial deals for a Swedish telecoms company that was later fined £700m in a US prosecution.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

And now Amersi faces a substantial legal bill after an attempted court action against the Tory Middle East Council director, Charlotte Leslie.

"The entrepreneur with links to Iran had undertaken legal procedures that amounted to “unreasonable behaviour”.

thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/…