General Election 2015: Return of £70,000 in donations to convicted fraudster and his wife a blow to Tory pledge to crack down on tax evasion
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Version 0 of 1. The Conservatives found themselves having to return a further £20,000 in donations after accepting money from a convicted tax fraudster earlier this month, days after an investigation by The Independent forced the party to hand back more than £50,000 to his wife. Multimillionaire businessman Stanley Tollman, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the United States in 2008, gave the Tories £10,000 in the second week of the general election campaign to boost David Cameron’s chances of remaining in Downing Street. His wife Beatrice Tollman also donated £10,000 on the same day. The Conservative Party confirmed that both donations have been returned, taking the full amount returned to the Tollmans this week to £70,000. Earlier this week The Independent revealed that Mrs Tollman, who also donated £20,000 in the first week of the election campaign, was herself charged with conspiracy to evade millions of dollars’ worth of tax in the US, charges that were dismissed by a judge in 2008. The findings prompted the Conservatives to return all of the money received from Mrs Tollman, who has donated more than £60,000 since 2011. This further revelation is humiliating for a Conservative Party that has made cracking down on tax evasion and avoidance a key part of its election campaign and has pledged to raise £5 billion by tackling those who do not pay their fair share in tax. The charges against Mrs Tollman were dropped on the same day as Mr Tollman pleaded guilty by agreement to a single count of tax evasion for which he was sentenced to one day’s unsupervised probation in London. At the same time he agreed to pay more than $105 million to the US authorities in back taxes and penalties. Are you undecided about who to vote for on 7 May? Are you confused about what the parties stand for and what they are offering? Take this interactive quiz to help you decide who to vote for... Click here to launch The American authorities had spent five years unsuccessfully attempting to extradite Mrs Tollman from the UK over allegations that she and her husband had millions of dollars in taxable income in the Channel Islands. Labour said the latest donation the Tories have had to hand back reveals a “chaotic campaign”. The couple were close friends of Margaret Thatcher and were guests of the Reagans at the White House. Mr Tollman said he only agreed to plead guilty in order to ensure the “future peace and security of the family”. The couple’s son, Brett Tollman, chief executive of Travel Corporation, pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2003 and was sentenced to more than two years in prison, as well as a $3.5 million penalty. A spokesman for Mr and Mrs Tollman said: “In so far as Mrs Tollman is concerned, you will see she is of good character and was acquitted of all charges.” Responding to Mr Tollman’s guilty plea, a spokesman said: “Stanley Tollman admitted to having failed to report on his US tax return two bank accounts situated outside the US. It was that omission for which he was sentenced to one day's unsupervised probation. “The reality is that the financial settlement was the only means through which his family were going to be able to get on and lead their lives without being coerced by the Americans.” Jon Ashworth, Labour's general election campaign deputy, said: “Once again we see that the Tories are taking money from the vested interests they stand up for in power. Whether through giving millionaires a tax cut, defending tax avoidance, or protecting hedge funds, the Tories always stand up for a privileged few.” Details of the latest donations were disclosed in the Electoral Commission records for the second week of the election campaign. They revealed that Labour received more than £1 million in donations in the week commencing 6 April, more than twice as much as the Conservative Party. Among them was a £300,000 donation from Dr Assem Allam’s company. Dr Allam, who owns Hull City football club, has been an open critic of Ed Miliband over his economic policy but last month pledged to provide up to £800,000 to plug a hole in Labour’s election funding if a £1.5 million donation from Unite failed to materialise. Len McCluskey, the Unite leader, threatened to cut its funding after a row broke out with Labour over the selection of a parliamentary candidate in Halifax. But records showed Unite gave another £112,000 to Labour, taking its total donation to the party in the election campaign to more than £1.1 million. The Liberal Democrats were given £50,000 and Ukip £8,000 in the second week of the campaign, according to figures from the Electoral Commission, while the Scottish Greens reported receiving £9,124 of public funds. Ukip also reported £63,000 worth of donations late and the commission has contacted Nigel Farage’s party “to establish the reasons this”. The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible. Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed: All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report) |