A multi-millionaire Tory donor who backed Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign was accused of ‘attempted blackmail, bribery, corruption and dirty money’ in a Commons debate.
The allegations were made against telecoms tycoon Mohamed Amersi, who made a fortune in Russia, by former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis using parliamentary privilege.
He also launched an astonishing attack on top British law firms, calling for them to be “punished” for “a litany of tactics designed to cover up corruption”.
He claimed solicitors such as Carter Ruck, who represent Mr Amersi, were “aiding legal intimidation by dishonest and dishonourable” oligarchs and others.
Mr Amersi reacted furiously, accusing Mr Davis of being a ‘liar, coward and a bully’ – and demanded he retract his allegations.
Mr Davis demanded fresh action to curb the legal ploy of “lawfare” involving Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS), whereby “individuals with deep pockets and questionable motives” use British libel laws to silence whistleblowers.
He labelled Carter Ruck solicitors “the go-to law firm for every bad actor seeking to undermine and misuse British justice”.
Mr Davis said Mr Amersi’s two-year legal fight with former Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie was an example of this form of legal “abuse – a classic SLAPP case”.
Mr Amersi lost a libel case against Ms Leslie earlier in June, was heavily criticised by the judge and agreed to pay all her costs.
Mr Amersi “attempted to bully, intimidate and financially ruin Ms Leslie to suppress the truth”, Mr Davis told the Commons on Thursday.
Ms Leslie and Mr Amersi fell out after he tried to take over a Conservative group set up to promote better links with the Middle East. He sued her for defamation after she sent a dossier on his Russian links to senior Tories.
Mr Davis said Mr Amersi’s two-year legal fight with former Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie was an example of this form of legal “abuse - a classic SLAPP case”— (PA)
Mr Davis said the judge who struck out the defamation action had “noted that Amersi offered to drop his claim against Ms Leslie if he got his way and was given a green light to launch a rival group’’.
Mr Davis claimed this was “a clear attempt to blackmail the Conservative Party”. Mr Amersi had launched similar “legal threats” to silence former Labour Minister Dame Margaret Hodge, he added.
Mr Davis said Mr Amersi had forced King’s College London to remove a report on international corruption written for them by Dame Margaret which revealed the “truth” about him: “A long history of involvement in corruption, bribery and in buying access to politicians.”
Mr Amersi had made $4m in a 2005 deal involving a Russian telecoms company “on behalf of a company he knew was secretly owned by a powerful Putin ally”, claimed Mr Davis. He went on to “use his fortune to gain access to powerful people in the UK”.
They included King Charles and the Conservative Party, which received £750,000 in political donations from Mr Amersi and his Russian partner.
Mr Davis said that the King’s College report by Dame Margaret which Mr Amersi forced them to remove claimed he was “mired in an international scandal”. Mr Amersi “bullied King’s College” – and the college ”capitulated”, said Mr Davis. “The threat effectively silenced Dame Margaret and suppressed her vital work exposing economic crime and dirty money.”
Responding to the claims, Mr Amersi launched an extraordinarily personal attack on Mr Davis, telling The Independent the former cabinet minister was ‘senile’ and a ‘liar’.
And he claimed Mr Davis was a ‘bully’ for using the legal cloak of parliamentary privilege to make allegations against him.
“David Davis is senile and needs to get mental counselling – he is a liar,” he said. “His evidence about how much money I have given to the Conservatives is wrong; his evidence that I am mired in corruption is wrong; his evidence that I am a bully is wrong. He is the bully.
“He needs to look himself in the mirror and award himself the prize of being the biggest bully of the year for using Parliamentary privilege.”
Mr Amersi said he was “appalled by grossly erroneous utterances” about him by Mr Davis and Dame Margaret.
Accusing them of “twisting the truth,” he said: “The moral compass is at an all-time low because of their conduct. They should stop being cowards and confront me with any evidence they have.”
Mr Amersi said he was “appalled by grossly erroneous utterances” about him by Mr Davis and Dame Margaret (Yui Mok/PA)— (PA Archive)
Mr Amersi said that if Mr Davis refused to withdraw the allegations he would report him to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Told of Mr Amersi’s comments about him and his threat to report him to the Commons authorities, Mr Davis laughed and said: ‘Be my guest.’
During the debate, Mr Davis said law firms who used SLAPPS for silencing people should be made to pay for wasting courts’ time and public money.
He listed the names of the law firms he said were involved: “Carter Ruck, CMS, Mishcon de Reya, Skadden, Taylor Wessing, Schillings and Harbottle & Lewis.” They had “designed a litany of tactics not to promote justice, but to suppress truth; not to protect reputations but to silence legitimate criticism; not to ensure accountability but to cover up corruption. That behaviour should not go unpunished.”
Responding on behalf of the government in the debate, justice minister Mike Freer endorsed Mr Davis’s rallying cry that “we cannot allow individuals with deep pockets and questionable motives to exploit our justice system and destroy Britain’s reputation as a trusted jurisdiction”.
Carter Ruck was approached for comment.
