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Letter from Mr Ian Greer to the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards
I am sure it will not surprise you that I have
been reflecting on the many statements that have been made to
you by Mr Fayed. Although I am confident that the numerous discrepancies
which have transpired over the course of the last two years will
have been noticed by you, I thought it important to write again
with my own observations.
(a) Mr Fayed, in his own witness statement
prepared for the libel action against The Guardian, made
no mention of any arrangement entered into between him and my
company - or indeed me - over and above the contracted fee.
(b) If such an arrangement had been agreed
at that time - for me to pass monies to Mr Hamilton and Mr Smith
- presumably it would have commenced immediately. It would also
have meant that I would have received between £150,000 and
£200,000 over the period.
(c) Mr Fayed can produce no proof of any
discussion relating to cash, nor can he prove that any cash was
ever received by me for any purpose.
(d) In his oral evidence before you, Mr
Fayed has stated that it was a possibility that Sir Michael Grylls
"took cash from me". Sir Michael has never received
payment from me by cash or cheque for any activity he may have
undertaken on behalf of either Mr Fayed or the House of Fraser.
The company's bank statements have been made available to you.
(e) It is of importance to take into account
that the £13,333 cheque of which your Inquiry made much,
was paid in 1990, when the DTI Report was published. As you now
know, none of the Members mentioned in the allegations were active
on Mr Fayed's behalf at the time. They ceased any active involvement
at the time Mr Tiny Rowland published, through The Observer,
a leaked copy of the DTI's Report in 1989. Mr Fayed is a shrewd
businessman and it is unlikely that he would pay anyone for doing
nothing.
(f) Insofar as the evidence provided by
Ms Bond and Ms Bosek, both either former or current employees,
is concerned, they fail to be able to produce any evidence of
either my alleged collection of cash, or indeed of any courier
that delivered cash to my office. The fact that they have produced
a telephone message, whose author is unknown, would seem to add
little to substantiate their claim. It is also surprising that
over the many years that they allege I telephoned "demanding
cash" they are only able to produce the message referred
to above. I believe that my former secretary's statement counters
their evidence. I had easy telephone access to Mr Fayed and Mr
Webb and would have spoken to them concerning any financial matters.
(g) With reference to Sir Andrew Bowden
and the suggestion that he received a donation for his election
campaign in 1987, as payment for the work undertaken on behalf
of Mr Fayed or the House of Fraser, there is no proof whatsoever
to substantiate this preposterous allegation. Would you like me
to ask Mr Patrick Ferreira to provide you with a statement of
work undertaken by the Parliamentary Information and Research
Department at the time of the project fee of £13,333 was
paid to IGA? In conclusion, may I point out that I offered
to provide a list of the hundreds of clients for whom I have acted
over the past decades. The purpose of making this suggestion
was to allow you to approach all or any one of them to vouch
for the way in which my business was conducted. As you have not
reverted to me on this point, I have spoken to Sir Colin Marshall,
Chairman of British Airways and President of the CBI. I have selected
him as someone with whom I have worked for over 10 years and
who has knowledge of other companies for whom I have acted. He
also knows of the way in which I undertook Parliamentary activity,
including the tabling of Parliamentary Questions. He is very
happy to receive a telephone call or letter from you, requesting
a statement. I very much hope that you will take up this suggestion,
as I believe that in so doing, you will learn from an impeccable,
unbiased source, of the professionalism and integrity of my company.
Sir Colin may be contacted on telephone number
***.
Ian Greer
27 February 1997
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