Tory donor and Vladimir Putin associate facing forgery charges in Luxembourg

Gérard Lopez with Vladimir Putin in 2010 at a racetrack outside St Petersburg, where the Russian president test drove an F1 car. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

A Tory donor who has been described as a friend of Vladimir Putin, and who donated £400,000 to the party before the Brexit referendum, is facing charges of forgery in Luxembourg.

Gérard Lopez, 50, who chaired the Lotus Formula One team in the UK, donated to the Tories in April 2016, two months before the referendum. He has denied the charges.