Millionaire political donor drops case against Conservative Middle East director

Charlotte Leslie will not face High Court data protection action from Mohamed Amersi

Mohamed Amersi speaking at an event in 2019. He has dropped his data protection case against the director of the Conservative Middle East Council. Shutterstock

The head of an influential Middle East forum in Britain has had legal proceedings against her dropped by a millionaire Conservative Party donor.

Charlotte Leslie, a former Conservative MP, will no longer face a court action by Mohamed Amersi after he withdrew a data protection claim when she raised concerns about his background.

Mr Amersi, who has donated £1.2 million ($1.58m) to the Conservative Party, brought the claim against Ms Leslie following a dispute over a memorandum she compiled on him in her role as director of the prominent Conservative Middle East Council.

Mr Amersi, who has been linked to business deals with Russia, had been expected to give evidence at the High Court trial set to commence next week.

But he told The National that “in the current circumstances” it would be “disproportionate” to continue both the data protection case as well as a potential defamation action.

The entrepreneur has been accused in parliament of using the legal system to “bully” Ms Leslie and could still commence the defamation action. He categorically denies the bullying allegation.

His case stems from a memorandum written by Ms Leslie after she went online and examined his background, business dealings and family and then sent it to a handful of senior figures, including politicians, diplomats and national security figures.

The memorandum was compiled after Mr Amersi set up Conservative Friends of the Middle East and North Africa (Comena), regarded as a potential rival to CMEC.

Mr Amersi claims that during a dinner with Boris Johnson before he became prime minister, it was agreed that he should begin a new Conservative group to develop regional connections.

Ms Leslie passed her document to Ben Elliot, the Conservative Party chairman, in January of last year. Mr Amersi became aware of the memo and stated she was attempting to damage his reputation. Ms Leslie strongly denied the allegation, saying she acted in the public interest.

The businessman had alleged that Ms Leslie’s information was attempting to undermine his attempt to set up Comena. He made a subject access data request demanding all documentation relating to him and then proceeded with legal action in the belief Ms Leslie had not responded in full.

Mr Amersi’s lawyers wrote to the CMEC director stating she had to apologise, withdraw her memo and promise not to interfere with his plans for setting up Comena.

The very top of the British establishment has also been dragged into the controversy, with Prince Charles, who had entertained Mr Amersi, drawn into questions over party funding, along with former prime minister Theresa May.

The Financial Times has previously reported that Mr Amersi, who is also a philanthropist, made $4m from a deal in 2005 with a Russian telecoms group controlled by a minister in President Vladimir Putin’s government. Mr Amersi said he was unaware the minister owned the company.

In a statement to The National he said his intention behind legal proceedings had been to “assess the damage done to my reputation by the circulation of inaccurate information about me” to have it corrected and “to restore my good name and to receive a full apology”.

He added that “in the current climate” it would be “disproportionate” to continue both the data protection and potential defamation case.

“My legal team will therefore focus on taking forward the libel proceedings, during which I will receive the information I have previously requested,” he said. “Like any private citizen, I have a right to defend my reputation when it has been attacked unfairly.”

Ms Leslie has previously described the judicial process as a “legal sledgehammer” used by British lawyers against her.