Rochdale Conservative Association is to give £2,500 to a Ukrainian cause after accepting a donation for the same amount from a millionaire businessman with links to Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Electoral Commission records show that Mohamed Amersi made the payment in November 2019 and it was reported and published early the following year. Mr Amersi describes himself as a ‘renowned global communications entrepreneur, philanthropist and thought leader’. Together with his Russian partner Nadezhda Rodicheva, he has donated nearly £500k to the Conservative Party since 2018.
But his business dealings have come to the fore recently, with serious questions being asked over his links to individuals with connections to Russia. These include Leonard Bogdan, who has been linked to Vladimir Putin’s security services and Leonid Reiman, said to be a ‘top crony’ of the Russian president.
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With scrutiny of Russian money intensifying in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, Rochdale Conservative Association has confirmed it will be donating the money it received from Mr Amersi to a Ukrainian cause or charity. Councillor Ashley Dearnley, the association’s deputy chairman, confirmed this would be the case after the questions surrounding Mr Amersi were highlighted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service .
“All due process was followed, there was nothing irregular about it,” said Coun Dearnley, also leader of Rochdale council’s Conservative group. It went through the Electoral Commission fine, it’s absolutely transparent."
“What wasn’t transparent to me was this gentleman’s activities - and I do not want money in the Rochdale account that could have any links back to Putin and his evil regime.” He continued: “Therefore arrangements are being made with the local Ukraine community to donate the full amount in full to the charity advised. We shall make a clear statement with our Ukraine friends.”
Councillor Peter Winkler whose own grandfather came from Kyiv, is one of three Conservative councillors who represent the borough's Norden ward.
He added: “I am satisfied that this donation was received transparently, in good faith and observing all checks at the time it was made, however in light of the current situation it is right that this now be used to support the people of Ukraine.
"This is a distressing time, particularly so for those of us with connections to Ukraine. I have been working closely with the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) here in Rochdale and have seen the overwhelming cross-party and public support that our Ukrainian community has received, so was pleased to be able to ensure that this was added to their appeal fund.”
Labour MP Liam Byrne has compared Mr Amersi to a character from John Le Carre’s The Night Manager. Speaking in a Commons debate on January, he said: “Information I have seen from well-placed sources in the Kremlin shows that Mr Amersi is an associate and business partner of people with all sorts of friends, including some with close connections to the SVR [Foreign Intelligence Service] and FSB [Federal Security Service].
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He continued: “Mr Amersi made a fortune helping to sell PeterStar to a Luxembourg-based company, which—surprise, surprise—turned out to [be] controlled by Leonid Rieman, who was none other than President Putin’s former telecoms Minister. Coincidence? You be the judge, Mr Deputy Speaker.
“Perhaps the most concerning of Mr Amersi’s connections is Leonard Bogdan, a man with very interesting friends in the FSB and the SVR. Mr Bogdan was a minor partner in Tempbank, which held Soviet Union Communist party assets and then specialised in covert foreign transfers. Mr Byrne told MPs how Tempbank also helped to facilitate another sanctioned firm, Hudsotrade, which dealt with Russian arms and ammunition suppliers.
“Sources inside the Russian Government say that Mr Amersi was involved in these deals, providing finance from Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, along with private clients from Syria and Iran, to help exports into the Middle East,” he added. “Mr Amersi, it is said, dealt directly with Hudsotrade and two of the shareholders, who were later sanctioned.”
Just three days later, during a Commons debate on lawfare - the use of law as a weapon of war - Conservative MP David Davis launched a blistering attack on Mr Amersi. He told MPs how the 61-year-old claims to be ‘driven by a desire to create a world that’s better for everybody’.
“Let’s test that against public domain facts, shall we?” he continued. “In 2005, he made £4m helping a Luxembourg company to buy a Russian telecoms business. The following year, a Swiss judge concluded that that company was secretly owned by a top crony of Vladimir Putin, Leonid Reiman.
“In 2006, Amersi was accused in a separate lawsuit of trying to extort a $2 billion payment, not on behalf of himself but on behalf of a Russian oligarch.”
He went on: “Four years later, in 2010, Amersi advised on a transaction in Uzbekistan that was found to be a $220 million bribe to the daughter of the country’s brutal dictator. When he was embroiled in a dispute in the early 1990s, a UK High Court judge described his conduct as 'lamentable' and his evidence as 'unreliable', 'unconvincing' and “unsatisfactory”.
Mr Byrne's comments were made in a House of Commons debate onthe Elections Bill on Monday, January 17. Mr Davis was speaking in a debate on Lawfare and UK Court System on Thursday, January 20.
Both MPs contributions are recorded in Hansard, an edited verbatim record of what is said in Parliament.
