Select Committee on Standards and Privileges First Report


APPENDIX 84

Letter from Mr Christoph Bettermann to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

  Mr Mohamed Al-Fayed and The Guardian/Mr Neil Hamilton.

  Thank you for your letter of 17 February 1997 and the extract from the transcript of Alison Bozek's oral evidence which I finally received on 28 February.

   I would like to clarify the following.

  I did not arrange any of Ho Chee Sing's entries into the UK and I definitely did not deal with any of his arrivals.

  Chee Sing first entered the UK for the official purpose of being trained at Harrods. I was then president of International Marine Services (IMS) in Dubai and did not yet work at Harrods. Chee Sing worked as a Chief Cook in IMS.

  That first visa was obtained through the British Embassy in Dubai and I most probably signed a guarantee that he would return to Dubai and that we would pay for his stay. However all arrangements were made by Mr Fayed's office.

  Mr Fayed liked Ho Chee Sing and his cooking and kept him until his visa expired in Oxted.

  Instead of sending Chee Sing back to Dubai Fayed sent him to Sri Lanka for a holiday, with instructions to return to England once a new visa had been obtained.

  Since this took some time, Chee Sing lost his patience and travelled back to the UK without informing anybody. Mr Fayed told me at the time that, upon arrival Chee Sing was promptly caught by immigration and gave Alison's private address. When questioned Alison explained to Immigration that Chee Sing wanted to visit her since I, his boss, was her boyfriend. The latter of course was not true as confirmed by Mrs Bozek in her oral evidence.

  At the same time as Mr Fayed told me all of this, he requested me to confirm the story if questioned.

  Unfortunately I am unable to remember the exact time this happened. I believe it was in 1990.

  Chee Sing was then sent back to Sri Lanka and brought back into the country in 1991 on a visa which was obtained for the Dorchester.

  Arrangements were made at the time by a company called Ferguson and Snell and Mr Fayed's office.

  When I questioned Chee Sing some time after the incident he confirmed that he had told the Immigration officials that the purpose of his trip to Britain was to visit Alison Bozek.

  I also mentioned the incident to Mrs Bozek when I saw her in London some time after the incident and I recall she commented that it was rather stupid of Chee Sing to give her address and we joked about us having an affair.

  I suppose there are files at Heathrow Immigration where it must be possible to confirm that this incident happened.

Christoph Bettermann

3 March 1997


 
previous page contents next page
House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries

© Parliamentary copyright 1997
Prepared 8 July 1997