PAY BACK BHS DIRTY MONEY, CITY FIRMS ARE TOLD

Some of Britain’s top City firms were last night urged to hand back mil- lions of pounds of ‘dirty money’ they made from the doomed sale of BHS. The firms – including Linklaters, Olswang and Grant Thornton – made up to £10million from advising on the sal

stalwart for £1 to a three-times bankrupt ex-racing driver.

BHS collapsed in April – just a year after it was sold to Dominic Chappell – in a devastating blow to its 11,000 workers and the 22,000 members of its pension scheme.

Yesterday, a lacerating Parliamentary report said the involvement of some of the City’s leading legal and financial names had given the deal ‘an expensive badge of credibility’.

And last night, furious MPs said those firms should now hand back the cash to help the thousands of BHS workers who face losing their jobs – or to help plug the pension scheme’s £570million black-hole.

Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee which investigated the downfall of the 88year-old High Street retailer, told

the Mail: ‘This is tainted money. Clearly the advisers knew their names were being used to give credibility to an absurd operation – a triple bankrupt [Chappell] introduced by a convicted fraudster [Paul Sutton]. I hope the partners of these firms decide they don’t want this money and give it to the 11,000 former BHS workers who have lost their jobs.’

Another MP described the fees as ‘dirty money’ and yet another said the firms had a moral duty to return the cash.

The BHS scandal exploded again yesterday after the publication of the report by Mr Field’s committee. It branded Sir Philip as the ‘unacceptable face of capitalism’ and said he had plundered millions from BHS before leading it to disaster.

In his first comments last night, Sir Philip – nicknamed ‘Sir Shifty’ by his critics – said the report was unfair and inaccurate. It also emerged that he was threatening to sue both Mr Field and Mr Chappell – accusing the latter of falsely representing his business credentials before the deal.

But pressure intensified yesterday for Sir Philip to be stripped of his knighthood. Mr Field said he had behaved ‘much worse’ than the shamed late media baron Robert Maxwell – even though he has committed no crime. It came as:

Lord Kerslake, former head of the forfeiture committee which stripped disgraced former RBS boss Fred Goodwin of his knighthood, suggested Sir Philip had a ‘case to answer’;

The Prime Minister ordered a blitz on corporate tax avoidance to prevent a repeat of the BHS scandal;

Sir Philip faced calls to ‘write a cheque for £700million’ to prop up the BHS pension scheme amid fears its funding shortfall has grown;

MPs raised concerns about the Arcadia pension scheme – which includes thousands of Topshop and Dorothy Perkins workers – as the deficit has soared to £190million.

Mr Chappell, who had been bankrupted three times, was introduced to Sir Philip’s team by convicted fraudster Paul Sutton. Sir Philip has claimed he ‘one million per cent’ would not have done the deal without being given the green light by Goldman Sachs. His team also said they were also encouraged by the ‘good team of people’ around Mr Chappell, including ‘reputable advisory firms’.

But in their report, MPs told how some advisers were more ‘preoccupied with how their fees would be paid’.

The firms involved included Olswang, which described Mr Chappell as an ‘honest guy’ and an ‘entrepreneur’.

Olswang and Grant Thornton are said to have raked in £8million between them from Mr Chappell’s investment vehicle Retail Acquisitions Group, while Linklaters received £1.2million from Sir Philip. Accountancy firm PWC also received hundreds of thousands of pounds for auditing the accounts of Taveta, the Jersey-based parent company of Sir Philip’s retail empire. Last night John Mann, Labour MP, said: ‘These advisers made significant dirty money out of the BHS calamity. The only decent thing to do is for them to help BHS workers.’

Craig Mackinlay, a Tory member of the work and pensions select committee said: ‘Morally they should consider giving up some of their fees.’ Last night Sir Philip Green said the MP’s report was a ‘predetermined and inaccurate output of a biased and unfair process’.

He added: ‘With the benefit of hindsight, clearly Retail Acquisitions and Mr Chappell were a very bad choice as purchaser.

‘The disposal of BHS was made one hundred per cent in good faith. I am trying to find a solution for the BHS pension.’

A spokesman for Grant Thornton UK, said: ‘We undertook our work in the belief that we could help BHS’ management team to turn the business around, and find a sustainable solution for the pensions scheme.’ The firm would not comment on whether its partners will give up their fees.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman said: ‘We identified risks to Arcadia but did not provide advice or recommendations.’

Olswang declined to comment. Linklaters would not comment on repaying fees.

Comment – Page 16