Billionaire donor and friend of Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson charged over $1.2 billion fraud

Rebecca Camber
Mail Online
October 25, 2011

A billionaire donor and friend of Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson  was charged yesterday in connection with an alleged £700million  bribery scandal.

Victor Dahdaleh, 68, is accused of offences relating to contracts for the supply of aluminium to Bahrain. The Jordanian-born metals magnate has been close to Labour for years and has poured money into the Party’s causes. He was once introduced by Lord Mandelson as ‘Victor, my friend’, and enjoyed warm relations with Mr Blair when he was prime minister.

Yesterday, the London-based businessman was arrested after attending Bishopsgate police station by appointment. He was charged with corruption, conspiracy to corrupt and acquiring and transferring criminal property between 2001 and 2005.

The businessman is accused of making payments to officials of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), a smelting company in Bahrain mainly owned by the royal rulers of the Gulf state.

Read full report here

This article was posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 8:02 am

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