MG Rover: Ex-director accused of £100,000 "bribe"
A former director of MG Rover has been sensationally accused of taking a £100,000 ‘bribe’ over the sale of Longbridge to a property developer.
Brian Parker allegedly ‘asked for and agreed to accept’ the money from St Modwen Properties after acting as a middleman in a multi-million pound land deal.
The financier had been part of the business team that helped the Phoenix Four buy the car maker from BMW in 2000 for a nominal £10.
Mr Parker subsequently became a non-executive director at MG Rover and director of its parent company Techtronic, a role he held from May to October 2000.
During that period he held discussions with St Modwen Properties (SMP) over the eventual sale of large swathes of the 100 year-old Longbridge site for redevelopment.
But in Friday’s bombshell report, investigators accused Mr Parker of breaching his ‘fiduciary duty’ by seeking and accepting the £100,000 ‘introductory’ payment for his own company, Landcrest Developments.
Edgbaston-based SMP paid the money in two £50,000 payments. But it later charged the bill to the taxpayer by invoicing current Longbridge redevelopment partner Advantage West Midlands for £100,000 of “estate costs”.
Both SMP and Mr Parker deny any wrongdoing.
But the investigators’ report concluded: ‘‘We consider that Mr Parker asked for, agreed to accept and in fact received (through Landcrest Developments) a commission from SMP in breach of his fiduciary duties as a director/agent.
‘‘We note that although we warned Mr Parker that we were provisionally minded to conclude that he had, through Landcrest Developments, ‘received a bribe in breach of fiduciary duty’, he did not dispute the suggestion or, indeed, make any substantive response.’’
SMP initially bought 60 acres at Longbridge and later purchased a further 225 acres in January 2004 in a ‘cut-price deal’ worth £42 million.
The specialist brownfield redevelopment company has admitted paying the £100,000 to Mr Parker as an ‘introductory commission’, but denies any impropriety took place.
A SMP spokesman said: ‘‘We don’t accept the word bribe.
‘‘St Modwen paid a fee totalling £100,000 to a company controlled by Mr Brian Parker, a former director and agent of MG Rover.
“This payment was made on behalf of, and at the request of, MG Rover. It was fully accounted for, and clearly recorded in documents supplied to MG Rover.
‘‘As soon as it became clear that questions were being raised about this matter during the MG Rover inquiry, the Board of St Modwen appointed two senior QCs to carry out a totally independent and thorough investigation.
‘‘The QCs reached a judicial conclusion that the payment was made not only with the informed consent of MG Rover but also at MG Rover’s request. They also concluded that no improper payments were made.
‘’Consequently, and with great respect to the inquiry, the Board of St Modwen does not share the inspectors’ concerns regarding this payment and is firmly of the opinion that no impropriety occurred.’’
