‘Uni chief was offered shares and house at cut price’ - claim
A SENIOR figure at Swansea University was offered equity in a company by a businessman involved in a controversial £200 million City Deal-linked project as well as a discounted price for a house, the suspended vice-chancellor of Swansea University has claimed.
Former registrar Raymond Ciborowski, who was the second most powerful executive at the university, is said to have been offered shares by Franz Dickmann, a director of a company called Sterling Health Securities Holdings, which was appointed to develop the £200m Delta Lakes wellness village in Llanelli.
The project, which was seeking £40 million in funding from the City Deal for Swansea Bay City Region, has been put on hold and the agreement with Sterling Healthcare terminated in the wake of the suspensions of four academics at Swansea University.
Mr Ciborowski, who had been the university’s registrar until March, resigned as an adviser to Swansea University in September, two months before the four academics were suspended. Mr Ciboriwski has now resigned as a board member of the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board.
We have revealed that the investigation into the suspensions is looking into the Delta Lakes scheme and a not-forprofit company that Swansea University would have had no control over that had been set up to handle a £2.5 million Welsh Government grant to the university to create a respiratory illness centre at Delta Lakes. The claim about Mr Ciborowski is made by the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Richard B Davies, one of the four academics suspended by the university.
The suspended academics also include dean of the university’s school of management, Prof Marc Clement, who was credited as the architect of the Delta Lakes scheme and who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
In a grievance letter against two university leaders, registrar Andrew Rhodes and university council chairman Sir Roger Jones, Prof Davies says: “Given the reasons given for my suspension it is evident that Sir Roger Jones [chair of council] failed to disclose his knowledge of the equity, discounted price for a house and employment offered to former registrar Raymond Ciborowksi by Franz Dickmann and Sir Roger Jones’s acceptance of Raymond Ciborowski’s explanation.”
We approached Mr Ciborowski. We asked if he recognised the offer of equity, employment and a discounted home from Mr Dickmann referred to by Mr Davies in his leaked grievance letter to Swansea University’s council.
He said: “I have always operated on the principle of not commenting upon leaked documents.
“I am confident the university will reach a conclusion in the publicly reported matter.
“I wish the university, and all my former colleagues, the best.”
We approached Mr Dickmann. In a telephone conversation, we asked if he recognised the offer of equity to Mr Ciborowski, as well as employment and a discounted house, which Mr Davies said he made in his grievance letter
He said he couldn’t comment on the equity or discounted house price offered to Mr Ciborowksi raised in Mr Davies’s grievance letter.
We also approached Sir Roger Jones, who “totally refuted” Prof Davies’s claim he failed to disclose any knowledge.
On the offer of equity, a job and a discounted house, referred to by Mr Davies being made by Franz Dickmann to Raymond Ciborowski, he added: “This was never communicated to me by the vice-chancellor.”
According to documents lodged with Companies House, in June last year Sterling Health Securities increased the number of shares in the company from 100 to 10,000.
A leading corporate financier who didn’t want to be named said this was an action a company would normally take if it was issuing shares to new shareholders.
He said: “This process could have been for the purposes of allocating some of the new shares to existing and other subscribers.”
The Welsh and UK Government have confirmed they are carrying out an investigation into the entire City Deal for the region.
So far no projects have been signed off by both governments.
That is needed before any City Deal projects in the region can secure government funding.
Swansea University said it couldn’t comment on Prof Davies’s references to Mr Ciborowksi in his leaked grievance letter.
Carmarthenshire Council is now looking to develop a new business and funding. model for the Delta Lakes project.
Sterling Health had won the contract to develop the project in an EU procurement exercise in which it was the only bidder.