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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Jail sentence for Lib Dem donor | Jail sentence for Lib Dem donor |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A millionaire businessman whose company gave the Lib Dems more than £2m has been jailed for two years after being branded "dishonest" by a judge. | A millionaire businessman whose company gave the Lib Dems more than £2m has been jailed for two years after being branded "dishonest" by a judge. |
| Michael Brown, 40, had admitted committing perjury and making a false declaration to obtain a passport. | Michael Brown, 40, had admitted committing perjury and making a false declaration to obtain a passport. |
| The judge at London's Southwark Crown Court said Brown was guilty of "very deliberate and pointed" dishonesty. | The judge at London's Southwark Crown Court said Brown was guilty of "very deliberate and pointed" dishonesty. |
| Brown, who is based in Spain, became the Lib Dems' biggest donor before the general election. | Brown, who is based in Spain, became the Lib Dems' biggest donor before the general election. |
| There is no suggestion the court case has anything to do with the party. | There is no suggestion the court case has anything to do with the party. |
| In July, he pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Passport Office in November 2005 when he claimed he had lost his previous passport in a washing machine. | In July, he pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Passport Office in November 2005 when he claimed he had lost his previous passport in a washing machine. |
| Also in July, he admitted he had made a false statement in the High Court in 2005. | Also in July, he admitted he had made a false statement in the High Court in 2005. |
| 'Pointed flaunting' | |
| The offence of perjury was prosecuted privately by Mr Brown's former bankers HSBC. | |
| And the CPS matter of passport deception had involved a "very direct and pointed flaunting" of a High Court order, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said. | |
| Both were related to HSBC's concerns about the management of accounts opened under the name of his trading company 5th Avenue Partners, he added. | |
| "Investors had apparently provided you with $47.5m (£25m) with which to credit these accounts," Mr Rivlin said. | |
| "This aroused the bank's suspicions." | |
| HSBC was then successful in freezing Mr Brown's assets worldwide. | |
| This had resulted in £20m of assets, including a £400,000 yacht and expensive cars, being seized from Mr Brown, Clare Montgomery QC, for the bank, told the court. | |
| Mr Brown was also arrested, bailed and ordered to surrender his passport. | |
| For the perjury offence, Mr Brown had claimed in an affidavit that he was entitled to $10m (£5.3m) from the frozen accounts because that money had been made from dealing in bonds. | |
| "You have now admitted this statement was a deliberate lie," the judge said. | |
| In order that he could subsequently flee back to Spain, the judge said, Mr Brown had lied to the authorities, obtaining a new passport by claiming his old one had been destroyed in his washing machine. | |
| Mr Brown, who later went bankrupt, faces further ongoing civil proceedings against the bank. | |
| Election gift | Election gift |
| Mr Brown was arrested at his villa in Majorca earlier this year by British and Spanish police as he celebrated his 40th birthday. | Mr Brown was arrested at his villa in Majorca earlier this year by British and Spanish police as he celebrated his 40th birthday. |
| Mr Brown, a tax exile, is one of Scotland's wealthiest men, with an estimated fortune of about £10m. | |
| He was the subject of an Electoral Commission investigation last year after it emerged he was not registered vote in the UK - despite bankrolling the Lib Dems' election campaign to the tune of £2.4m. | He was the subject of an Electoral Commission investigation last year after it emerged he was not registered vote in the UK - despite bankrolling the Lib Dems' election campaign to the tune of £2.4m. |
| But the watchdog later found it was "permissible" for the party to have accepted the cash from his UK-based company 5th Avenue Partners. | |
| Mr Brown later said he gave the money because he believed in then leader Charles Kennedy's ability as a future prime minister "but not the muppets who purport to serve him". | Mr Brown later said he gave the money because he believed in then leader Charles Kennedy's ability as a future prime minister "but not the muppets who purport to serve him". |