Priti Patel has declared a further £10,000 donation from a firm linked to a PPE fixer who she helped to secure millions of pounds worth of government contracts during the Covid pandemic, it has been revealed.
The Tory leadership hopeful, who was eliminated from the race at the start of September, received donations from Sunbeam Consulting to cover the cost of her chauffeurs.
The firm is owned by Samir Jassal’s wife, Kiran, and currently shares its address in the Chatham Historic Dockyard with Samir Jassal’s latest venture, Isher Capital Limited.
Now a Conservative Party councilor in Gravesham, Samir Jassal previously acted as a middleman to broker two lucrative PPE deals worth a total of £131 million.
These were struck between the government and a company called Pharmaceuticals Direct during the height of the pandemic.
At the time, the Good Law Project uncovered documents showing that, as home secretary, Priti Patel engaged in vigorous internal lobbying to help Pharmaceuticals Direct secure the first of these two contracts, for 60 million IIR masks, for a total of £28.8 million.
Jassal has confirmed that he has supplied his services to Pharmaceuticals Direct via a company called Dymon Cap Limited and has been paid to the tune of £16.37 million as a result, leaked invoices show.
Jo Maugham, the executive director of Good Law Project, said: “It does look as though the Jassal family is scratching the back of Priti Patel who once scratched theirs.
“The problem arises if, as may well be the case, the back scratching is done using the profits from lucrative public contracts.”
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