Annex ii74
Letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Standards from Mr Mohammed Pathan
Ms Fernandes has passed the extract concerning the
company from your letter to her of 11th October 2001. I have also
received your letter of 8th October 2001. I am very disappointed
you feel that I have only provided you with some information
about the company and surprised that there are still outstanding
matters.
I am also saddened that you had to write to Ms Fernandes
regarding this matter. As you have said in your letter of 25th
September "May I thank you again for the assistance you
have provided and the time you have given in the public interest."
Your letter of 13th September 2001 "Thank you again for
your assistance which I appreciate." And also your letter
of 10th July 2001 "May I thank you again for your help
with my inquiries and in advance for your help with these questions."
Due to this I have delayed my departure on Annual Leave and gone
through all the questions again.
Your Questions:
Q1 Replied on 30th August 2001.
We have explained the activities of the company.
I cannot comment on the precise dates. As we explained to Mr Sheldon
and to you this was a small company that at all times had professional
advice and assistance.
As you would have noted from the last inquiry Mr
Vaz and Ms Fernandes both gave information on this.
Q2 Replied on 30th August 2001.
We have explained to you all that is within our knowledge
and pointed out that Mr Mahmoud was dealing with these matters.
We have set out what has been done in the transcript on page 19.
Replied on 4th October 2001.
I have answered these questions to you in my letter
of 30th August which was : We have explained to you all that
is within our knowledge and pointed out that Mr Mahmoud was principally
dealing with these matters. We have set out what has been done
in the transcript on Page 19.
Q3 Replied on 30th August 2001.
Page 22—You stated that you believed the company
booked an event in central London on 23rd June 1999. The company
did not book the event nor was it involved in it. If you have
any information to enable me to enquire further please let me
know.
Replied on 30th August 2001.
See my reference to page 22 above.
Replied on 4th October 2001.
I have answered this question to you in my letter
of 30th August 2001 which was: See my reference to page 22.
(Page 22 in the transcript of our meeting). You stated that
you believed the company booked an event in central London on
the 23rd June 1999. The company did not book the event nor was
it involved in it. I am not aware of any work carried out for
the network. If you have any information to enable me to enquire
further please let me know.
You will recall our exchange concerning naming the
witnesses. I was informing you that it seems that someone is deliberately
giving you incorrect information. If you will let me know where
the information is coming from I can enquire further.
Q4 Replied on 30th August 2001.
I have answered this question on Page 36 (page
36—Transcript of meeting on 4th July 2001):
MR PATHAN: I do not know about Wildberry.
MS FILKIN: You do know about Wildberry.
MR PATHAN: No.
(Page 38—Transcript of meeting on 4th July
2001).
MS FILKIN: I see: do you think that there is anywhere
else?
MS FERNANDES: As I said, I do not know anything about
Wildberry.
We are not aware of any payments made to Wildberry.
Q5 Replied on 30th August 2001.
Page 39—I became a director from 01.04.99 and
resigned on 31.01.01 for the reasons that I given to you. I received
no remuneration. (Page 39—Transcript of meeting on 4th
July 2001).
Replied on 30th August 2001.
I have answered this question above.
Q6 Replied on 30th August 2001.
I have written to the company accountants to obtain
this information.
Replied on 30th August 2001.
These are in the company accounts for each year,
which I understand that you have. If you would like me to total
these up I will do so.
Replied on 27th September 2001.
In response to my request to them the company accountants
have provided me a copy of the published accounts, which I enclose
a copy for your information so that you can extract the totals
you require.
Replied on 4th October 2001.
I have answered this question in my letter of 27th
September 2001.
Q7 Replied on 30th August 2001.
I have written to the landlords and asked for this
information. I will send it to you when I receive this.
Replied on 14th September 2001.
I have now heard from the landlords. They have informed
me that the rental per month was £108.33 and that a total
of £3,509.83 has been paid to them. Please let me know if
you require any further information on this.
Replied on 27th September 2001.
The information I was obtaining from the landlords
has been provided to you in my letter of 14th September 2001.
Please add a further £108.33 x 2 to the totals.
Q8 Replied on 30th August 2001.
As we have explained to Mr Sheldon and yourself this
list has been compiled from what is within our knowledge from
our involvement with the company.
Replied on 27th September 2001.
I am still trying to work out an estimate by studying
the published accounts, but as you appreciate this is extremely
difficult, and I doubt this can be done.
Replied on 4th October 2001.
I have answered this question in my letter of 27th
September 2001.
Q9 Replied on 30th August 2001.
For the reasons given to you it is not possible to
do this without the benefit of Mr Mahmoud's help. I would not
like to guess and give you an inaccurate reply.
Replied on 27th September 2001.
See above answer. (Answer to Question 8 on the
27th September 2001).
Replied on 4th October 2001.
I have answered this question in my letter of 27th
September 2001.
You are asking me and the directors to guess at the
figures. We cannot do so. If the guess turns out to be wrong we
will be accused of providing misleading information. The information
we have are in the published accounts. Only Mr Mahmoud would be
able to give individual totals. We do not have this information.
As you have said in your letter of 8th October 2001 I have concluded
that we cannot provide this estimate.
I have today spoken to the Accountants and
they have confirmed that there is no stay on the winding up process
of the company, and the process is being dealt in a professional
manner. None of the directors are involved in the process it is
being handled directly by the accountants.
I would be grateful if you could reply to my letter
of 4th October 2001 regarding reimbursement, can it not be that
my expenses are taken out from your travel and subsistence cost
budget, as you have described this in your letter of 25th September
2001, as you have said I am assisting you in the public interest.
May I also be clear that it was not just I who said
Mr Vaz had not received any benefits from the company but the
company accountants themselves.
Please let me know if I can be of any further help.
12 October 2001
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