Tag Archives: sudhir choudhrie

Lib Dem donor arrested as part of Serious Fraud Office investigation

The Financial Times reports:

A prominent Indian backer of the UK Liberal Democrat party and his son were the two suspects arrested earlier this week in connection with an investigation into allegations of bribery by Rolls-Royce. Sudhir Choudhrie and his son Bhanu were arrested on Wednesday as part of the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation into alleged bribery in Indonesia and China by the engine and turbine maker. …

A spokesman for the Choudhries confirmed that the pair had been arrested. The pair deny all wrongdoing and are co-operating fully with the investigation, he said. They were granted bail without conditions

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Lib Dems set to name 7 new peers for House of Lords, says Sunday Times

rumi verjeeToday’s Sunday Times front page (£) splashes with a ‘Cash for peerages row hits Clegg’ headline. The reality is slightly less exciting: Rumi Verjee, a prominent donor to the Lib Dems, is apparently top of the list of seven names put forward for peerages:

Rumi Verjee, a multimillionaire who brought the Domino’s pizza chain to Britain, is top of a list of seven names compiled by the Lib Dems who are expected to be awarded honours within weeks. He has given £770,000 to the party since May 2010. … Verjee

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Reform of political donations: within the gift of the Lib Dems?

Yesterday’s Observer reported that one of the Lib Dems’ bigger donors, Sudhir Choudhrie, faces allegations of “accepting tens of millions of pounds in kickbacks from an arms deal between an Israeli company and the Indian government”:

Sudhir Choudhrie, who has personally donated £95,000 to the party and whose relatives’ companies have donated a further £475,000, was named as a key arms broker in foreign reports. … This is the second time that Choudhrie, 59, has been accused of being paid an illegal commission from a major arms deal in India. The allegations are said to be politically motivated, and to

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  • Tim
    So glad you are a councillor again. Still miss you here....
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    Excellent piece. I really like the "I'm a Liberal because..." idea, and will prod my local association along just those lines....
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    @ William Wallace William, what's happened to the party's old policy of partnership and co-ownership ? If I remember correctly, our mutual friend Donald Wad...
  • William Wallace
    Roz: This is exactly what we need to get us all thinking. I would add that we need to rethink our approach to political economy. Liberal democracy is easiest t...