The MEP triumphantly paraded by the Conservative Party after defecting from UKIP is revealed to be named in a number of financial scandals.
Yorkshire Euro MP Amjad Bashir, who was pictured with Prime Minister David Cameron, employed lobby group iB Consultants who are alleged to have submitted fraudulent invoices which contained forged taxi receipts.
UKIP, who suspended the politician last month, have confirmed that they believe the taxi company receipt included in the invoice, which is paid from taxpayers money, are false, saying the company confirmed it was “bogus” and have notified West Yorkshire Police. In addition, the company address in Leeds where iB Consultants was registered is none other than the address of the MEP himself, Amjad Bashir. The iB Consultants Web page is also currently registered at Mr Bashir’s address.
Mr Bashir pays £3700 per month to the firm from his ‘local assistants’ allowance out of a budget which comes straight from British tax payers pockets.
It can also be revealed the same company claimed £8,000 for a ‘Radicalistion of Youth’ conference in London on December 5th, at which the speaker, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, was supposed to appear alongside Archbishop Carey. However, as early as October 2014 the principle speaker had informed iB Consultants that he was not attending.
The invoices for the large sums of money, including flights to and from Pakistan, luxury hotel rooms and the hire of a Mercedes led the European Parliament group, of which UKIP is the largest party, to start investigations. The car was hired from JusTaxi, of which Mujeeb Bhutto was a Director of for a few months, who was involved in a kidnapping gang.
In a letter seen by Breitbart London, the group ask Mr Munir, the Director of iB Consultants, about the invoices he submitted on the 19th January which total £8,108.19. They include flights for a Mohiuddin Hussain, who was unknown to the group, and lacked boarding cards, tickets and any proof that the company expended the money in the first instance.
They also asked about two hotel rooms costing £499 each for the cancelled conference which, the letter states, ‘look like booking confirmations’ rather than invoices. They asked Mr Bashir, ‘who stayed in these rooms? Were they paid and by whom? Surely you cancelled these? Please send proof of payment’.
Further questioned payments include a ‘Topa Travel’ invoice for two air tickets with no further details of the journey including no passenger names or what position they held. Once again, the invoice was submitted with no boarding cards, tickets or proof that the invoice was ever paid.
The company also submitted an invoice for cost of the invitations to the conference without ever providing a copy of one to prove they were produced, nor did they provide a list of who was invited to the conference or proof that the Grand Mufti had originally accepted the invitation.
Mr Hookem, UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, described Mr Bashir as “a huge embarrassment for the Tory Party.”
He has written to the Temporary Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, Dee Collins, reporting what he calls ‘systematic financial fraud by Amjad Bashir, MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber’.
He defended the party’s acceptance of Mr Bashir – even when documents revealed that the Party Chairman Steve Crowther knew about the allegations surrounding Mujeeb Bhutto, saying, “UKIP have a clear policy on wrong doing – once we find out we kick them out.”
“In his eagerness to get one over on UKIP, ‘Cast Iron’ Dave has become ‘Desperate Dave’,” said Mr Hookem, “taking in a damaged political tourist without performing the necessary checks.”
“Surely the Tory Party cannot keep Amjad Bashir as a member after these damning revelations,” he said, adding, “Bashir’s service provider submitted a bogus taxi receipt, was rumbled and then withdrew all receipts and paid back all monies immediately. Amjad’s team have failed to answer our serious questions.”
Mr Bashir, who has been in four different political parties in the UK, is a public supporter of the MQM party in Pakistan which is classed as a terrorist organisation in both Canada and the US.
In a UKIP local candidate selection meeting in Bradford two weeks ago, convicted kidnapper Mujeeb Bhutto turned up with Amjad Bashir’s chief of staff Hassan Munir the Director of iB Consultants Ltd. A UKIP member in the West Yorkshire area said that it “set off alarm bells|” amongst members. Mr Bhutto, who was formerly a member of the Conservative Party, had been featured on the BBC’s Newsnight for his involvement in a Pakistani kidnapping gang which demanded £50,000 from the victim’s family. Despite the party informing Mr Bashir that Mr Bhutto was not welcome at any UKIP events, the pair were frequently seen together including at an MQM event in London on July 20th last year.
A Conservative Party Spokesman told Breitbart London that they would respond to our questions regarding Mr Bashir’s continued membership of the party “in the morning.”
Mr Bashir has previously responded to the UKIP allegations saying, “There is not a shred of truth in any of the claims but it has made me more convinced than ever that I made the right decision.”