MP Vaz lobbies bank boss over pal’s £11m debt
He flouts Parliamentary convention to save businessman from going bust SUNDAY MIRROR
live in Vaz’s constituency. Don Kotak’s home is in Edward Argar MP’s Charnwood seat – more than three miles from Vaz’s Leicester East stronghold.
A source with knowledge of the fraternal dispute said: “Jack asked Mr Vaz for help, and got knocked back. Don asked for help and got it – why? He isn’t a constituent either. If Vaz said that was why he couldn’t help Jack, he also shouldn’t have helped Don.” Don, who the source says has been friends with Vaz for decades, is also managing director of Asian station Sabras Radio. Vaz – facing a police probe over claims he offered to buy drugs for male prostitutes he hired – regularly appears on air as a guest and did a phone-in with actress Shilpa Shetty and Don. A Commons Library Briefing Paper states: “One Member’s relations with his or her constituents are… a preserve other Members should not interfere with.”
Don Kotak said yesterday: “Sabras Radio… is based in the heart of the Asian community well within Mr Vaz’s constituency. Threatened action by RBS would have had a disastrous impact upon the radio station because of an inter-company debt.”
Vaz said yesterday: “This case relates to a business within my constituency, Sabras Radio, which serves the wider community in the Midlands.
“Don Kotak approached me to help in his capacity as a director of Sabras.
“The case concerned his business and also the jobs and livelihoods of constituents being affected by the activities of the RBS. A number of constituents had approached me before Don Kotak or his brother Jack.”
Jack asked Vaz for help and got knocked back. Don asked for help and got it – why? SOURCE ON WHY MP INTERVENED ON BEHALF OF FRIEND