Give us back our money, his victims urge Cable

MICHAEL Brown’s victims have repeated their calls for the Liberal Democrats to hand back the £2.4million he gave them.

Bill Chua, an oil trader based in Singapore, lost £100,000 that he spent getting Brown bailed out of jail while he was in the Dominican Republic. The two men had been talking about a £29million oil deal but it fell through when Mr Chua became suspicious.

‘The Liberal Democrats have no morals,’ Mr Chua said. ‘If they have enough money they should give it back but I don’t think these guys have any morals.’

Another investor who did not want to be named said he was able to trace the millions he lost – and found much of it was given to the Liberal Democrats.

The investor said: ‘There is no justice here. If somebody has found some money, I’ll be on the first plane there, otherwise I just want to forget about it.

‘The Liberal Democrats should give me my money back.’

The Lib Dems, now led by Sir Vince Cable, have repeatedly refused to hand back the stolen funds Brown donated in 2005.

In 2011, when it emerged the conman was in hiding in the Dominican Republic, senior figures in the party admitted they had spent it all.

Former leader Charles Kennedy said the donation was accepted before the 2005 election only after the Lib Dems went the ‘extra mile’ to check out Brown.

But letters between Brown and senior party officials suggested this was not the case. One written by the fraudster to Lord Razzall, the party’s campaign chairman at the time, criticises it for doing ‘little or no due diligence’.

A Lib Dem spokesman said: ‘The party fully complied with the regulations set out by the Electoral Commission. The commission’s inquiry in 2009 found the party accepted the donation in good faith, and were in no way at fault.’

Sources added the Spanish authorities had not been in touch with the party over the moneylaundering investigation.