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Lib Dems can keep £2.4m donation Lib Dems can keep £2.4m donation
(20 minutes later)
The elections watchdog has ruled that the Liberal Democrats can keep £2.4m in donations which it had been suggested came from a man convicted of fraud. The elections watchdog has ruled that the Liberal Democrats can keep £2.4m in donations which it had been suggested came from a fraudster.
Michael Brown was convicted of stealing more than £30m from clients last year. Michael Brown was convicted of stealing £30m from clients, his trial heard he had channelled money through his firm, 5th Avenue Partners, to the Lib Dems.
The court case heard he channelled money through a company called 5th Avenue Partners to the Lib Dems. But the Electoral Commission said there was no "reasonable basis" to conclude he had personally donated the money.
But the Electoral Commission said there was no "reasonable basis" to conclude that he had donated the money. The Lib Dems welcomed the ruling and said they had acted in "good faith".
The money was donated to the Lib Dems - the UK's third largest political party - by 5th Avenue Partners Ltd in 2005.
Permissible donor
In its findings the Electoral Commission said Brown - who was tried in his absence after skipping bail - was the "sole director" of 5th Avenue Partners Ltd.
But the watchdog said the company itself met the requirements under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, to be a "permissible donor".
It examined suggestions the true donor was actually Brown himself or the company's parent company -Switzerland-based 5th Avenue Partners GmbH - neither of which would have been allowed to make political donations under the rules.
At all times the party acted in good faith in releation to the receipt and the expenditure of these donations in the 2005 general election campaign Liberal Democrats
The watchdog concluded: "There is no reasonable basis, on the facts of this case and taking into account the relevant law, to conclude the true donor was someone other than 5th Avenue Partners Limited."
It also says it was reasonable for the Lib Dems to "have regarded the donations as permissible".
In a statement, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats said: "We welcome the Electoral Commission's ruling on this matter.
"At all times the party acted in good faith in relation to the receipt and the expenditure of these donations in the 2005 general election campaign. All our donations and loans were properly declared to the Electoral Commission."