BBC Told It Cost Political Donor Knighthood and Peerage

Mohamed Amersi told the High Court on Wednesday that a 2021 BBC broadcast caused him to lose the opportunity for a knighthood and a peerage. The donor to the Conservative Party and Reform UK is suing the broadcaster over claims that he was linked to corruption. His legal team argued the coverage caused very serious harm to his professional standing.

The dispute centers on a Panorama episode titled Pandora Papers: Political Donors Exposed and a related online article that remains available. Oliver Powell, Amersi’s barrister, stated that the report suggested strong grounds to suspect his involvement in corrupt deals during his tenure with the Swedish telecoms company Telia. Powell argued these allegations struck at the core of his client’s integrity.

In a witness statement read to the court, Amersi detailed the financial and professional fallout from the publicity. He noted that he donated 25,000 pounds to Reform UK last year and had previously given hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservatives. Amersi claimed the scandal forced him to step back from educational philanthropy and that Union Bancaire Privée of Switzerland closed his accounts.

The BBC is defending the material by citing truth and public interest. In its written response, the broadcaster argued that Amersi has not provided documentary evidence to support his claims of serious reputational harm. The defense also suggested that parts of his statement contain factual inaccuracies.

The 2021 reporting focused on Amersi’s role as an adviser to Telia in Uzbekistan and a 220 million dollar payment made to a Gibraltar company named Takilant in January 2010. The BBC maintains that Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s president, was the beneficial owner of Takilant. Karimova is said to have held influence over the country’s telecoms regulator.

Powell countered that neither Amersi nor Telia knew or suspected Karimova’s ownership of the company. He described the BBC’s reliance on Telia’s 2017 admissions to the US Department of Justice as untested hearsay. Powell argued that these admissions should carry little weight in the current trial. He also cited a legal review commissioned by Telia that could not determine a legal or financial connection between Takilant and Karimova.

The BBC alleged that Telia engaged in a series of corrupt deals in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Nepal. Amersi stated that he has no evidence of his knowledge or involvement in corruption in those regions. He characterized his work in Uzbekistan as limited, spanning fewer than six weeks in late 2009 and 2010.

Powell told the court that the BBC offered inference and generalized suspicion rather than an evidential foundation. Amersi claims the broadcaster misled viewers by suggesting he was centrally involved in paying a bribe to Karimova. He is seeking damages, including aggravated damages, and an injunction to stop further publication of the defamatory statements.

Amersi is scheduled to give evidence for six days starting on 11 November. The trial is ongoing.