Cherie, a corrupt despot and a £420,000 deal
MURKY financial links between Cherie Blair and the corrupt dictator of a tax haven with an appalling record on human rights can be revealed today.
A law firm founded by Tony Blair’s wife, who trumpets her human rights work, earned more than £2,000 a day representing Abdullah Yameen, the autocratic president of the Maldives.
In a highly irregular move, the firm was paid more than £200,000 of its fee by a suspected conman and terrorist now wanted by Interpol.
As a result, Mrs Blair’s company, Omnia Strategy, could become the subject of an anticorruption investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and US government.
Mr Yameen has jailed more than 1,700 opposition activists, and the leaders of three rival parties, staging show trials dubbed a ‘ travesty of justice’ by Amnesty International.
A Daily Mail investigation has discovered Mrs Blair’s firm:
Agreed to work f or Mr Yameen’s dictatorship for six months in return for £420,000;
Publicly claimed its job was to help build democracy and ‘improve transparency and accountability in the country’ when Omnia was also hired to handle the regime’s PR;
Was paid £210,000 of its fee by Mohamed Allam Latheef, a businessman who is accused of corruption, arms trafficking, terrorism and the embezzlement of more than £30million in public money;
Was involved in financial transactions with Abdullah Ziyath, ex-head of a Maldives tourist quango, who is suspected of colluding with Latheef and is on trial accused of masterminding the theft of more than £50million from the government.
Last night, Omnia said in a statement it took the suggestion
‘A very corrupt government’
it had received money from someone other than its client ‘very seriously’ and was urgently ‘reviewing’ the payment.
Lawyers representing victims of the regime called for the financial relationship between Mrs Blair and the dictatorship to be investigated by UK and US fraud authorities. One said: ‘Like all law firms … Omnia is subject to strict moneylaundering laws which require it to carry out due diligence on the people who are paying it.’
Mrs Blair’s firm was hired by the Maldivian government last summer, claiming its role was to promote democracy.
But secret documents obtained by the Mail reveal the firm was hired to advise on ‘strategic diplomacy, media training, [and] international media relations’ – and to handle PR during the regime’s legal battle with ex-president Mohamed Nasheed, who claims he was forced out of office at gunpoint in 2012. Mr Nasheed, represented by lawyer Amal Clooney, was later jailed for 13 years in a trial described by Amnesty as a ‘sham’.
Amid an international outcry, Mrs Clooney agreed to represent Mr Nasheed for free.
In contrast, Mrs Blair’s legal firm Omnia Strategy made a deal to help the Maldivian government for two payments of £210,000.
Omnia then billed Abdullah Ziyath, f ormer managing director of the state - run Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), for its work. Ziyath has since been arrested on 50 embezzlement charges as part of a £55million alleged corruption investigation.
Bank records show a payment subsequently made to Mrs Blair’s firm came not from Ziyath’s agency, but from MC Maldives Private Ltd, a garment company with no links to political activity.
The company’s owner, Abdulla Rafiu, said he had been duped into paying the money to Mrs Blair by Latheef.
Eva Abdulla, an MP for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, said: ‘The invoice shows Cherie Blair is working for the most corrupt agency of a very corrupt government. When Omnia sent an invoice to the government and ended up getting paid by a private company, that should have raised all sorts of red flags.’
Mrs Blair is Omnia’s founder and chairman. On its website she describes having more than 35 years’ experience as a barrister specialising in public international law and human rights.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘Following the unpredictable domestic events that occurred in the Maldives in 2015, Omnia Strategy moved swiftly to suspend the provision of services to MMPRC and subsequently terminated its engage - ment … before the completion of the contract.
‘Regarding the allegations surrounding payment of our invoice, we are taking this matter very seriously and are reviewing the suggestion our client was not in control of the referenced bank account.’
It said its role involved advising the government on legislative and institutional reform, adding: ‘ This was a separate contract … it has concluded.’