"Rishi Sunak’s £1bn Future Fund pumps cash into over 30 failures
The business histories of some companies and their directors raise questions about whether the state was too cavalier with taxpayers’ cash"
- The Times
"at least 34 companies that benefited from the funding are already in the process of being wound up... Fillings show taxpayer losses linked to the scheme from these handful of early failures could be as high as £40 million, and more are likely to follow."
"Roli, a music technology company, was struggling to find a market for its products before it was granted a £4 million Future Fund investment package.
The company products included a musical instrument called the Seaboard.."
"Taxpayers lose £4.5m after backing keyboard maker Roli " web.archive.org/web/2021091717…
'Roli's uncertain state had been highlighted before the Future Fund invested..
..other investors in Roli included Grimes, .. girlfriend of Elon Musk, .. and the Royal College of Art'
🤔
"Among disclosed Future Fund investments is Rezolve, run by the controversial businessman Dan Wagner
Wagner’s previous firm, Powa, collapsed into administration in 2016 having used about £140 million of investors’ cash"
"Wagner’s co-investor Brooks Newmark is a former Tory MP who resigned in 2014 after sending intimate photos to an undercover reporter posing as a young female researcher" archive.ph/WXgtE
"Newmark had earlier lobbied Matt Hancock, then the health secretary, for a client to get a PPE deal, which it subsequently received, The Sunday Times revealed last year. The company received £178 million for the supply of protective goggles." bbc.com/news/uk-politi…
"in May 2020 Mr Newmark teamed up with Zoe Ley, the owner of a dog food company who had set up a firm, Life Partners, to broker PPE deals "
and is a former Rothschild manager ..
Liz Hurley was her maid of honor in 2004
dailymail.co.uk/home/you/artic…
The 3 day wedding.. included 650 guests from Europe’s grandest families: the Fürstenbergs, the Bismarcks .."
".. and the Bourbons .."
🧐
"‘Our plan was to drive back to London via the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d’Antibes – for one last romantic night – and Sven’s family flat in Munich.’ " 🙄
"The dog also proved to be Zoe’s rock when she found herself in the spotlight after Emma Currie, whom Zoe had hired via Gumtree as a mother’s help, was arrested for stealing from the family.
The case took 2 years to come to court & was widely reported in the newspapers .."
🤔
"..last summer, with devastating consequences for Zoe as Emma proceeded to smear her reputation and abilities as a mother in court. "
"Zoe Appleyard-Ley sold a Cartier watch to a jeweler in Victoria three days before making her insurance claim for the theft"
"The Escada mystery of the socialites, the unpaid bills and a £70m bid" - The Times, 2009 archive.ph/jHEKM
"with the auction for Escada over, questions have been raised over how the couple could have led the bid. Public records obtained by The Sunday Times show that.."
"..over a three-year period, creditors registered claims against Sven Ley for bills totalling £1.3m. Some remain unpaid. His solicitors say he was unaware of some debts and disputed others.
His wife, once named by the magazine Management Today as one of Britain's most promising"
".. young businesswomen, has seen her loss-making UK firm dissolved. Any assets it had were seized by the Crown.
Now 36-year-old Zoe is embroiled in a dispute with her mother, the Hon Caroline Appleyard-List, over the will of her father, who died last year. "
"Sven..teamed up with Giacomo Santucci, former head of Gucci, and won conditional backing from the investment group behind La Rinascente and Printemps, the continental retailers. With their backers, the couple were reckoned to be offering more than £70m."
Zoe, who uses the surname Appleyard-Ley, comes from a privileged background. Her father, Jonathan Appleyard-List, was a naval officer. Her aunt was Baroness Wharton
"Roubi L'Roubi, Creative Director of Huntsman,
SVEN LEY, from Huntsman
Sir Jackie Stewart attend the Sentebale Polo Cup presented by Royal Salute World Polo at Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club on November 20, 2014 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates"
Prince Harry - "Sentebale Polo Cup presented by Royal Salute World Polo at Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club on November 20, 2014 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates"
Prince Harry and Roubi L'Roubi - Sentebale Polo Cop 2014
2011:
"Pierre Lagrange, a hedge fund manager worth an estimated £331 million, left his wife Catherine & 3 children before starting a relationship Roubi L’Roubi, a Mayfair-based haute couture designer whose commissions include creating vestments for clergy at St Paul’s Cathedral "
"His estranged wife, who has donated £150,000 to the Conservative Party, is thought to be in line for a settlement of more than £160 million after the couple filed divorce papers.."
"Mr Lagrange sold his £90 million home in Kensington Palace Gardens to Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, ahead of the hearing."
"Pierre LaGrange, 48, used taxpayers' hand-outs to pay some of the 65 staff at his upmarket clothes firm, Huntsman
After falling for a flamboyant male fashion designer, he took a former US Presidential aide as his husband - Ebs Burnough"
"
The 49-year-old Belgian-born financier co-founded the GLG hedge fund operation, criticised for short-selling shares in the stricken Bradford & Bingley bank at the height of the financial crisis.
The former Goldman Sachs trader also made millions by investing .. "
"..with Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Gary Lineker in a fund that financed the 3D film Avatar"
"Pierre Lagrange (L) and Campbell Carey attend a cocktail reception hosted by the Woolmark Company, Pierre Lagrange and the Savile Row Bespoke Association to celebrate "The Ambassador's Project" for London Collections Mens at Marks Club on January 8, 2016 "
"David Gandy at a cocktail reception hosted by the Woolmark Company, Pierre Lagrange & Savile Row on January 8, 2016."
"ANTIBES, FRANCE - MAY 21, 2015: David Gandy at the 2015 #amfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala at the Hotel du Cap d Antibes, as part of the 68th Festival de Cannes "
Declassified UK :
"A virtual unknown, Putin had suddenly become acting president two months before when Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first democratically elected leader, resigned on New Year’s Day 2000, and appointed Putin his successor... declassifieduk.org/revealed-uk-ig…
The Foreign Office briefing notes, obtained by Declassified after a freedom of information request, show a positive UK attitude toward Putin, believing the new president would further integrate Russia into the Western-ruled international system."..
"It’s been a good week for Palantir. The controversial spy-tech company, co-founded by Trump donor Peter Thiel, looks set to secure even more UK government work after the defence secretary pledged to expand the role of AI in the military."🤔
"Palantir already holds a £330 million NHS data contract. But as Democracy for Sale revealed last week, most hospitals in England are not using the software, with many complaining that it simply isn’t up to scratch." democracyforsale.substack.com/p/palantirs-nh…
"To encourage hospitals to take it up, the government signed an £8 million deal with consultancy giant KPMG to "promote the adoption" of Palantir’s tech in the NHS."..
"Historical and Contemporary Migrations of Central Asian Muslims: History, Culture, and Identity
Conference Programme and Abstracts, April 2024"
- Institute of Ismaili Studies
2023
"A specialized jurisdiction of the Paris prosecutor's office known as JIRS is looking into a villa on the French Riviera. Located in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, near Monaco,..
it was once a pied-à-terre for the Zairean dictator Sese Seko Mobutu and his family. Its three swimming pools, tennis court and heliport make it one of the most luxurious villas on the Côte d'Azur... lemonde.fr/en/economy/art…
There is evidence to suggest that the successive acquisition schemes for the villa were carried out in the name of various companies, whose indirect ownership would make Gazprom the beneficial owner,..
2024
"Romania: Four members of criminal group with mafia ties charged with €4.3 million fraud"
"The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania) has brought charges against four suspects, believed to be part of a criminal ring with ties to Italian mafia groups, for a €4.3 million subsidy fraud involving EU and national funds..
It is alleged that the defendants formed a criminal group with other suspects to provide false letters of guarantee to awardees of projects financed by EU funds, which claimed to insure the projects against potential damages... eppo.europa.eu/en/media/news/…
"The motivation behind the attack is currently unclear. Germany suffered a series of knife and car-ramming terror attacks in the run-up to the February federal elections." telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…
"In March, two people were killed after a man with mental illness crashed his car into a crowd of people in the western city of Mannheim. Several others were injured."