KashifAsrar
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From today's ToI issue.
Kashif
A CHARMING DEAL
UK firm hired girls to woo Saudis
ã60M Spent By The Company May Be Linked To Arms Contract
A secret slush fund set up by BAe Systems was used to pay tens of thousands of pounds to two British actresses while they befriended a senior Saudi prince and his entourage.
Confidential documents reveal that money from the ã60-million fund went on the mortgages and rent, credit card bills and council tax of Anouska Bolton-Lee and Karajan Mallinder. It even paid for language lessons.
Britainââ¬â¢s biggest defence contractor channelled the cash through a London travel company which financed ââ¬Åaccommodation services and supportââ¬Â for Prince Turki bin Nasser and other Saudi figures responsible for the desert kingdomââ¬â¢s involvement in the ã40 billion Al Yamamah arms deal.
The revelations are bound to reignite controversy over the deal, which sparked a bribery inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Documents giving details of the payments were handed to SFO staff.
The investigation was terminated in December when Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, told parliament that it was not in ââ¬Åthe national interestââ¬Â.
At the time of the payments Bolton-Lee, a former lingerie model-turned TV actress, and Mallinder regularly attended parties at the Carlton Tower hotel in London hosted by the prince who, as the then head of the Royal Saudi Air Force, was responsible for the purchase of 150 Hawk and Tornado jets from BAe. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the inquiry had been trying to establish why the women were paid through the BAe fund.
It is likely that both would have been interviewed later this year had the inquiry not been aborted.
Goldsmithââ¬â¢s move followed a series of threats made directly to Tony Blair by the Saudi government. The Saudis warned that they would halt all payments on the contract and cut diplomatic and intelligence ties with Britain unless the criminal investigation was stopped.
The SFO had been investigating claims that BAe had set up the fund to support the extravagant lifestyles of senior Saudi royals. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON
Kashif
A CHARMING DEAL
UK firm hired girls to woo Saudis
ã60M Spent By The Company May Be Linked To Arms Contract
A secret slush fund set up by BAe Systems was used to pay tens of thousands of pounds to two British actresses while they befriended a senior Saudi prince and his entourage.
Confidential documents reveal that money from the ã60-million fund went on the mortgages and rent, credit card bills and council tax of Anouska Bolton-Lee and Karajan Mallinder. It even paid for language lessons.
Britainââ¬â¢s biggest defence contractor channelled the cash through a London travel company which financed ââ¬Åaccommodation services and supportââ¬Â for Prince Turki bin Nasser and other Saudi figures responsible for the desert kingdomââ¬â¢s involvement in the ã40 billion Al Yamamah arms deal.
The revelations are bound to reignite controversy over the deal, which sparked a bribery inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Documents giving details of the payments were handed to SFO staff.
The investigation was terminated in December when Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, told parliament that it was not in ââ¬Åthe national interestââ¬Â.
At the time of the payments Bolton-Lee, a former lingerie model-turned TV actress, and Mallinder regularly attended parties at the Carlton Tower hotel in London hosted by the prince who, as the then head of the Royal Saudi Air Force, was responsible for the purchase of 150 Hawk and Tornado jets from BAe. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the inquiry had been trying to establish why the women were paid through the BAe fund.
It is likely that both would have been interviewed later this year had the inquiry not been aborted.
Goldsmithââ¬â¢s move followed a series of threats made directly to Tony Blair by the Saudi government. The Saudis warned that they would halt all payments on the contract and cut diplomatic and intelligence ties with Britain unless the criminal investigation was stopped.
The SFO had been investigating claims that BAe had set up the fund to support the extravagant lifestyles of senior Saudi royals. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON
