Annex 133
Letter to Mr Jaffer A Kapasi OBE DL MKD
from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
You wrote to me on 28 March 2000 to confirm
your earlier letter. I alerted you to the fact that I had received
evidence that was at variance with your letter. I must now put
evidence you for your comments.
I have received from Leicester City Council
a copy of a letter written to the then Town Clerk, Mr A Price-Jones,
from the then Leader, Councillor Peter Soulsby, on 22 April 1994.
In the letter he sets out information provided to him by a colleague,
namely that Councillor Merlyn Vaz and Mr Keith Vaz MP solicited
payment of £500 from three religious groups who were seeking
to purchase land at a discount price from the Council. The letter
goes on:
"This morning I telephoned Mr Jaffer Kapasi
of the Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat who confirmed that he had been asked
repeatedly for a `campaign contribution'."
The letter is signed by Peter Soulsby as Leader
of the Council and has been retained in the archives of the City
Council until I requested information from the Chief Executive.
I would be grateful to hear an account from
you about these events. If you would prefer to speak to me on
the telephone, perhaps you would contact me.
12 April 2000
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