Tory donor and Vladimir Putin associate facing forgery charges in Luxembourg
A Tory donor who has been described as a friend of Vladimir Putin, and who donated £400,000 to the party before the Brexit referendum, is facing charges of forgery in Luxembourg.
Gérard Lopez, 50, who chaired the Lotus Formula One team in the UK, donated to the Tories in April 2016, two months before the referendum. He has denied the charges.
It has been reported in D’Lëtzebuerger Land, a Luxembourg weekly political journal, that investigators have examined transfers of hundreds of thousands of pounds between the former operations of Lotus in the UK, a Luxembourg football club and a Hong Kong-based investment company. The judicial department in Luxembourg would not comment on the scope of the investigation.
A spokesperson said: “Luxembourg public prosecutor’s office has asked the Luxembourg district court sitting in chambers to refer Mr Lopez to a criminal court. The offences in question are forgery and use of forgeries.” The spokesperson said Lopez and Eric Lux, a business partner, had both been charged.
A spokesperson for Lopez said: “[Mr Lopez] categorically denies the allegations against him. He is confident that the [court in chambers], which has yet to hear his position, will clear his name. The [court] is yet to rule on whether to hold a trial or dismiss these proceedings.”
Lux also denies the allegations and his spokesman said any suggestion of wrongdoing in relation to Lotus F1 is “totally refuted”.
The spokesperson said Lopez had donated to the Conservatives to support Zac Goldsmith as the Tory candidate in the London mayoral election, in May 2016. They said he was not committed to any one political party.
Lopez was an early investor in Skype and has been an influential figure in European sports, from Formula One to
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