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APPENDIX 5
The Khashoggi Affidavit and the Fayed
Bribe
Letter from Cameron Markby Hewitt, Solicitors,
to Sir Gordon Downey[31]
Our client Mr R W Rowland has passed to us
your letter of 31 October 1996 and has asked us to reply to it
on his behalf.
Mr Rowland's instructions are that there is
no truth whatsoever in the allegation made by Mr Fayed that Mr
Michael Howard accepted payments from Lonrho, or agents acting
on its behalf, in connection with the appointment in 1987 of
Inspectors under the Companies Act 1985 to examine the circumstances
surrounding the acquisition of the House of Fraser by the Mr
Fayed family.
Mr Rowland is aware that Mr Fayed has been making
these allegations for some time and we are enclosing copies of
correspondence exchanged between him and Mr Fayed about the allegations.
You will see that copies of the correspondence have previously
been supplied both to the Home Office and to the Cabinet Office.
At Mr Rowland's request we are also sending you a copy of a draft
affidavit which Fayed apparently attempted to persuade Mr Adnan
Khashoggi to depose to. The affidavit bears in Mr Rowland's handwriting
a note of the circumstances in which the draft was handed to
him. We are also enclosing a statement prepared by Dr Marquand
de Villiers of what was said to him at a meeting he had with
Mr Khashoggi.
8 November 1996
Note handwritten by Mr R W Rowland upon
the draft Affidavit (below) dated 1 May 1996
AK called to see me today and gave me this
copy of this affidavit which Fayed asked him to sign against a
cheque for $2 million.
AK told me that he had extricated himself as
politely as possible by saying that he would send for his lawyer,
Sam Evans, to join the discussion with Fayed, Macnamara and Royston
Webb and a lady lawyer.
AK advised Fayed that he saw no benefit at all
in it for either of them, as AK would be branding himself as
a liar and an unreliable witness.
AK was given this document by Fayed, but AK
had not in any way . . . [remaining words illegible].
1 May 1996
Text of draft Affidavit
IN THE MATTER OF A REPORT INTO HOUSE OF FRASER
HOLDINGS PLC PURSUANT TO AN INVESTIGATION UNDER SECTION 432(2)
OF THE COMPANIES ACT 1985
1. The contents of this Affidavit
are based on my personal knowledge of events described and are
true. I make this Affidavit in order to help correct certain
findings made by the Inspectors appointed by the Secretary of
State for Trade and Industry in 1987 to investigate House of Fraser
Holdings plc. I believe their findings were based upon certain
incorrect or false information or documentation produced to them.
I make this Affidavit voluntarily and without benefit to me.
2. I gave inaccurate information to the Inspectors.
I also failed to give them information of which I was aware which
would have benefited the Fayeds and shown them to be honest. I
did this at the request of Mr R W Rowland ("Mr Rowland")
and because he agreed to pay me a very substantial sum of money.
I have now volunteered to make this Affidavit because I have
been ashamed of the part I played in damaging the Fayeds' reputation.
3. I have known Mr Rowland since about 1980.
From time to time prior to 1985 we did business together. He
knew that I had been related by marriage to Mohamed Al Fayed,
had been in business with him, and had known the Fayeds from
school days.
4. I cannot now remember exactly when and where
my first discussion with him took place on the subject of the
Fayeds, but I think it was during early 1985 that he spoke with
me and told me that he wanted to discredit the Fayeds. He asked
me to help. He made clear that I would be very well paid if I
was able to assist him by giving or organising information which
would make it appear that the Fayeds came from a poor background
and did not have sufficient wealth to finance the purchase of
House of Fraser from their own resources. Mr Rowland told me
that he was also organising other people to create or give this
impression. I do not know the full details but from what he told
me it was apparent that he was paying large sums of money to other
people to do this and that much of what was being said was untrue.
5. As a result when in due course Inspectors
were appointed to investigate the acquisition of House of Fraser
by the Fayeds, Mr Rowland was able to organise matters so that
the Inspectors received a lot of false information and documentation
from a large number of different sources. In Egypt it is fairly
easy to achieve anything in return for money and therefore even
official records can be made to show false information.
6. I do not have time to go through in a great
deal of detail what I have done to the Fayeds. I will therefore
give some brief examples of false evidence or information which
I know, or very strongly suspect, was given to the Inspectors.
These examples are:
(a) I am told that the Inspectors heard
evidence from Mr Peter Wickman who described himself as an independent
journalist, working for Stern magazine, and as initially
having no contact or dealings with Mr Rowland. I have also read
Appendix 7 of the Inspectors Report. His evidence was untrue.
On or about 25 May 1985 I was present with Mr Rowland and Dr A
Marwan in the Sheraton Heliopolis Cairo when Mr Wickman joined
us for a discussion with Mr Rowland. It was clear to me that
Mr Wickman was working for Mr Rowland and acting in accordance
with his instructions. When Mr Wickman joined us at our table,
Mr Rowland received a report from him, and gave further instructions,
regarding the contents of an article which Mr Wickman was preparing
as part of Mr Rowland's attack on the Fayeds.
(b) I also confirm that Mr Rowland procured
a payment by Lonrho into my bank account of the sum of US$3 million
in respect of documents prepared by my associate, Shri Chandra
Swamiji Maharej (the "Swami") implicating the Sultan
of Brunei in the purchase of Harrods. It was subsequently revealed
in English High Court proceedings, and I confirm, that these documents
had been fabricated. Copies of the two documents involved, both
of which were produced to the Inspectors, are now produced and
shown to me marked "AK 1". As will be seen, they purport
to be an Acknowledgement of Indebtedness, and a promissory note
relating to a sum of US$200 million. The documents produced to
the Inspectors were not originals. Once the revelation that they
were false had occurred, Mr Rowland then demanded that I return
the money. A copy of the demand from Lonrho is now produced and
shown to be marked "AK 2". I was unable to do so and
Mr Rowland later abandoned his claim because of other assistance
I was able to provide to him.
(c) Mr Rowland further arranged for me
to receive loans from Lonrho amounting to US$10 million in return
for me providing him with assistance for his campaign against
the Fayeds. This included me providing to the Inspectors certain
documentary evidence, and attending before the Inspectors in
order to give evidence adverse to the Fayeds. Mr Rowland told
me the nature of the evidence he wanted me to give to the Inspectors.
I would not have received the loans had I not agreed to assist
Mr Rowland in this way. The information I provided to the Inspectors
did not give an accurate picture of the Fayeds' history and business
affairs, none of the documents I produced to the Inspectors were
originals, and many of them had been fabricated so as to accord
with Mr Rowland's wishes and instructions.
(d) I personally know that the Fayeds did
in fact live as children in the house in Victoria, Alexandria,
which they referred to in their evidence to the Inspectors. I
visited them there when Mohamed was still at school. It is clear
to me that Mr Rowland must have organised a campaign to make
it appear that they were lying about this, and that they came
from a poor background.
(e) During and prior to 1989, Mr Rowland,
Ashraf Marwan and I were actively involved in numerous business
dealings. During the course of conversations with both Mr Rowland
and Ashraf Marwan I was told by them that Mr Rowland had advanced
approximately £4 million to Ashraf Marwan to enable him
to purchase a block of shares in House of Fraser plc at the same
time that Lonrho had a 29.9 per cent shareholding. I was told
by Mr Rowland and Ashraf Marwan that, because of the assistance
provided by Ashraf Marwan to Mr Rowland in his campaign against
the Fayeds, Mr Rowland did not seek the repayment of that sum
when Ashraf Marwan subsequently sold the shares. I should explain
that Ashraf Marwan was the son-in-law of the late President Nasser,
and had been head of security, intelligence and information in
Egypt. He had been trained by the KGB. He was therefore a man
of great skill in intelligence, counter-intelligence and disinformation
techniques, and of the utmost influence and power; this influence
and power continued after President Nasser's death. He remained
in a position to produce or obtain whatever false documents or
information he wished or to arrange for the destruction of any
documentation. I know that he used that power and influence to
assist Mr Rowland in his attack on the Fayeds by manipulating
information and evidence so as to ensure that false and damaging
material was produced to the Inspectors.
30 April 1996
31 This letter was originally sent in the context
of the inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
into allegations concerning Mr Michael Howard. Back
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