Part of a £2.4 million donation received by the Liberal Democrats from a disgraced financier came from a pensioner who is being forced to sell his home.
Robbin Watts, a retired building contractor, unwittingly invested £155,000 with Michael Brown’s company, 5th Avenue Partners, in April 2004 believing that he was investing in guaranteed bonds.
His money, which was raised against his home, was then given to the Lib Dems to help to fund their most successful postwar election campaign and the party is refusing to give the money back. The disclosure is the first time that a British taxpayer has claimed that his money has been given without his consent to the Liberal Democrats by Brown.
The Times has established a money trail from Mr Watts via a Swiss trustee and a Danish businessman to a Spanish 5th Avenue Partners account, from which it was apparently transferred to the Lib Dems. The trail will become part of a worldwide police investigation into Brown’s activities.
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Speaking from his home near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Mr Watts, 65, demanded that the Lib Dems pay him back so that he could stay in his £625,000 home, which is now on the market to pay off his debt. “I have been fooled along with many others into giving money to the Liberal Democrats through Michael Brown,” he said. “The party should do the honourable thing and give it back to people such as me who have been ripped off.”
Full report from the Times
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11 Comments
1. Mr Watt’s invests money in what turns out to be a *bad investment*.
2. Sadly, Mr Watt’s didn’t really have the money to invest, although he does have a house worth over 1/2 a million pounds.
3. The Times (like most media) like Lib Dem-bashing
4. Therefore, they’ll run an article about how the Lib Dems are stealing this poor man’s house, even though the link is tenuous at best. I suppose they’ll be seeking money back from any stationery supplier that 5th Avenue bought anything from.
Tosh
Er, sorry, random extra apostrophe in Watts.
He borrowed to invest – which breaks pretty much all the rules of personal investing! And that goes in spades when it’s of an order of magnitude that puts your house at risk.
He believed he was “investing in guaranteed bonds” – Hmmmm he thought he’d found an investment which offered a guaranteed return above the rate of borrowing £150k on his house. Please – tell where I can such investment!
Oh yes. Guaranteed bonds. Company which was yet to file a set of accounts. Two things that traditionally go together. He was either badly advised to the point of negligence or went for a speculative investment that didn’t come off.
OK, all that may be true but our opponents are going to go on getting mileage out of this story. You could equally say that unknown businessman, appearing a few weeks before a general election with an enormous sack of cash to give to the Lib Dems, no strings attached…hmm, something a bit strange here – might be more prudent to say thanks, but no thanks!
We were stupid to take the money, but this story is a legal non-starter.
A man made a bad investment, seeks to blame others for it.
Unfortunately there are many *cough*Iain Dale*cough* who want to try and make the LibDems look as bad as possible so Labour and the Tories don’t look so bad in their funding scandals.
The difference is, Labout and the Tories appear to have /knowlingly/ broken the law, the LibDems were naiive.
The Party is what the law terms an “innocent volunteer” – it received a gift without notice, actual or constructive, of any dishonesty on Michael Brown’s part. End of story.
I thought you could trace to an innocent volunteer? Though I agree the circumstances here make it pretty unlikely that would be the case.
You can, providing the money hasn’t been spent. Also, the amalgam from which the gift came is likely to have contained proceeds of other frauds – and if there are secured creditors, they will take priority on Brown’s bankruptcy. Mr Watt would be better off suing Brown’s accountant, who is insured, though he will need to prove a high degree of fault. For goodness sake, Mr Watt, invest your money in something safe like war loan stock or property.
“Lib Dems steal pensioner’s life savings” – yes, I suppose this was the inevitable conclusion of tihs absurd story.
One thing’s for sure, I’m heartily sick of the Times – and believe it or not I was a loyal reader since my mid-teens.
Surely this must be the last instalment of their little mud-slinging campaign?
Late at night and I’m talking nonsense. Mr Watt does have a proprietary claim which takes precedence over unescured creditors, because he didn’t make a loan to Brown, rather Brown took as a trustee. But Watt still has to prove that his money is part of the amalgam, and there might not be anything left after the Revenue has had its cut. Best option – sue Brown’s accountant. The insurer will have conduct of the case and will cough up out of court if there is sufficient evidence of constructive knowledge.
“I have been fooled along with many others into giving money to the Liberal Democrats through Michael Brown,”
This sentence says it all really. This man is obviously politically motivated.
Caveat emptor.