Campaigner says he was trapped

LONDON: Chair of Labour Friends of Pakistan Faiz Rasool has said that he has not been involved in any wrongdoing while raising donations for the Labour Party.
Faiz Rasool spoke out after The Sun published a front page news story “Bung me 5k for meeting Burnham” alleging that Rasool may have broken electoral laws by accepting £5,000 cash from a foreign national and promising to provide access to the Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham.
The newspaper said that Faiz Rasool told the reporter, posing as a wealthy foreign donor, that Mr Burnham needed money to fund his bid to succeed Ed Miliband as Labour leader and offered a face-to-face meeting in return for a cash gift.
The Sun said that the businessman invited its reporter to a function near Labour’s London HQ, where he was introduced to the Leigh MP and his British wife handed over a cheque for a further GBP3,000 to a campaign aide.
Faiz Rasool said that he has a proud record of working for the Labour Party and donating money to good causes selflessly. Rasool said in a statement that he was trapped by fellow Pakistanis and was not aware that he was being filmed illegally. “I have been involved independently organising and mobilising the Muslim community to help and support the Labour Party for many years. I have a track record of supporting the party in an open, transparent and legitimate way.
“A few weeks ago I was introduced by Mr Attaul Haq (a journalist and owner of the UK Times to Mr ‘Arshad Omar’, who claimed to be a businessman. Mr Haq told me Mr ‘Arshad’ was his friend and assured me of his integrity and credibility. Over the last few weeks Mr Haq facilitated a series of meetings with Mr ‘Arshad’ and was present at the meeting the deposit was given.
“I confirm that I was given five thousand pounds by Mr ‘Arshad’ as a deposit for sponsorship for a planned Muslim Friends of Labour reception. The deposit was not for Andy Burnham. After carrying out due

diligence on Mr ‘Arshad’ I concluded that he was unable to satisfy the criteria. Specifically his claimed identity could not be verified. Therefore at 17.27 on 9 September, before any story was published, I informed Mr ‘Arshad’ via a text message that he did not satisfy due diligence checks and that his deposit would be returned. The five thousand pounds has now been returned to Mr ‘Arshad’ via Mr Shahzada Hayat. I should point out that the facts speak for themselves. This whole thing was a set-up from start to finish by Mr Attaul Haq of the UK Times.”
Atta ul Haq denied doing anything wrong to Mr. Rasool. He said: “I regularly met Faiz Rasool on different accession and helped him to raise funds for Labour Party through him. I strongly condemn allegations levelled by Mr. Faiz Rasool in his statement. It's not my responsibility that Mr. Faiz Rasool used the cash amount for his personal purposes. It's unfortunate that Mr Rasool has been accused of defaming Labour Party for taking cash in the name of party leaders. I am continually harassed by different sources since the story was published. I feel my life is seriously in danger. I am going to contact the local police.”