28/04/2013 00:00
TW
0

by MONITOR
THE Bulletin and its sister paper Ultima Hora were first with the news on Friday morning; TV news bulletins in the UK picked it up during the day but it was not until yesterday that the British press began to tell the story of the arrest of Michael Brown at Esporlas here on Majorca and of the charges against him which will probably lead to his extradition to Britain.
Given that there are apparently 53 charges against Mr Brown of “forgery, perjury, perverting the course of justice, false accounting and obtaining a passport by deception” enough to make a news story in themselves - it is a little suprising that the UK headlines all focussed on the connection to the £2.4 million donation Mr Brown made to the Liberal Democrats at general election last year: “Lib Dems' biggest donor held in Spain” said The Telegraph; “Lib Dems' big donor locked up” offered the Daily Express; “Lib Dem donor is arrested in Spain on fraud claims” was The Times' choice; “Millionaire Lib-Dem donor arrested in fraud inquiry” reported The Independent; “Lib Dems' biggest donor faces fraud case extradition” said The Guardian.
There was also similarity in the way in which the story of Mr Brown's arrest and the background to the case were told. Oddly enough, the traditional tabloids were much less interested in the story than The Times and The Guardian which each ran fairly detailed accounts.
The Times, in a two-page report added some colour to its story of Mr Brown's arrest: “In a villa sheltered by the Sierra de Tramuntana mountains on Majorca, Mr Brown spent last Wednesday lunchtime putting the finishing touches to his birthday celebrations and preparing for an afternoon in the office.
A joint team of Spanish National Police and Civil Guards crept past his convertible Jaguar, Porsche Cayenne and swimming pool at 12.30pm... ” The Guardian's report content with the bare facts but it did add some information not carried elsewhere, for instance that in a civil action against Mr Brown in London last month HSBC bank claimed that “two sums totalling £26 million had disappeared”. The same report also revealed that a warrant issued at Bow Street Magistrates Court on April 13 said that last October HSBC began to suspect that Mr Brown's 5th Avenue Partners company was “operating its bank accounts with the object of defrauding certain investors or the bank itself”.
A Daily Telgraph exclusive was that the newly-created Serious and Organised Crime Agency issued the warrant for Mr Brown's arrest. The Times also had some information that did not appear elsewhere, saying that Mr Brown's arrest was connected to “a financial dispute over an investmenet made by the former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards.” THE relevance of Mr Brown's arrest to other current inquiries into millionaires' donations to political parties was covered in almost all of the reports, as was the ingenuous comment of a Liberal Democrats' spokesman: “We are not aware that this has any connection whatsoever with the Liberal Democrats.” At least Mr Brown, according to The Guardian, Mr Brown made it clear that his donation to the Lib Dems had nothing to do with ennoblement: “There was no personal interest in this. I don't want to sit in the House of Lords because I'm too undiplomatic. I shout and scream at people. But no party should be denied power because of money.” Oddly, only The Times reported an important statement by Mr Brown's spokesman: “Michael Brown has banked with HSBC for many years. In his financial affairs it is quite usual and proper to be subject to scrutiny and internal review from time to time. All matters are expected to be satisfactorily resolved. Settlement discussions on the case are expected to be successful. He is eager to return to the UK as soon as possible.”