Lib Dems face quandary over Michael Brown donation
On Friday night I reported for Newsnight on how Robert Mann, one of the victims of the convicted fraudster Michael Brown, has referred the Liberal Democrats to the police, alleging possible money-laundering offences over the £2.4m donation which the Lib Dems took from Brown before the 2005 election.
It is worth adding a few points which I didn't have time to include then.
First, Mr Mann, a US tax lawyer, is very determined and angry, and unlikely to let matters drop until he has exhausted every option against the Lib Dems - regulatory, civil and criminal.
Second, he has a top-notch firm of City lawyers, Bivonas, behind him. They are experts in fraud offences.
Third, the City of London Police, to whom Mr Mann made his complaint about the Lib Dems, are ideally placed to tell whether the party committed any money-laundering offences under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act, since they were the force who investigated Brown in the first place.
I'm told we may learn more on Tuesday.
Fourth, questions about Brown's donation will dog Nick Clegg until at least the general election.
He needs to find a much more convincing answer to the "moral" question of why he doesn't give the money back. Otherwise it will be hard for him and his party to claim any superiority over the other parties on the various sleaze issues.
Better still; the Lib Dems need to start thinking hard about how they do give the money back.
Finally, an amusing footnote. When I interviewed Brown for Newsnight last year he claimed that he had originally approached the Scottish Nationalists offering them a donation, but the SNP didn't respond and so he went to the Lib Dems instead.
Good judgement by the SNP, or plain incompetence?
Either way, if Brown is telling the truth (a real doubt, given he's a fraudster), Alex Salmond must be mightily relieved.
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
Comment number 1.
At 29th Jun 2009, greenwildwest wrote:Seems to be awfully quiet with this story. The Lib Dems used the money as central party election grants to gain the 60 odd seats they now hold. Their local campaigns are now visibly short of cash but MPs are using the Communication Allowance slush fund to make up the difference. The SNP were lucky!
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