http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587645/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Cambridge-fetes-wife-oligarch-wanted-FBI.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Daily Mail
24Mar2014
Cambridge fetes wife of oligarch wanted by FBI
SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE:
The London School of Economics faced heavy criticism for accepting a £1.5 million donation from former Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam. Now Cambridge University finds itself embroiled in a donor controversy.
Last week, Lada Firtash, the wife of Ukrainian gas oligarch Dmytro Firtash, joined the university’s Guild of Benefactors — a select group whose members have each donated more than £1 million.
Trumpets sounded as the group of robed dignitaries including University Chancellor Lord Sainsbury entered the university’s Senate House to induct Mrs Firtash as a ‘companion’ alongside Tory donor Andrew Cook and the James Dyson Foundation.
[ GRAPHICS ]
Trumpet call: Lada Firtash (left), the wife of Ukrainian gas oligarch Dmytro Firtash, joined the Cambridge University Guild of Benefactors and trumpets sounded as robed dignitaries including University Chancellor Lord Sainsbury (right) inducted her as a 'companion'
Just this month, Lada’s husband was arrested in Vienna and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. He has been accused of breaking bribery laws and forming a criminal organisation.
Dmytro joined the same Guild of Benefactors in 2011 after giving £5.4 million to develop a Ukrainian studies programme.
Lada, chairman of the Dmytro Firtash Foundation, arrived in a car escorted by several bodyguards as a campaign group protested outside, urging the university to ‘spring clean’ its donations.
Cambridge’s own ‘ethical guidelines’ urge care to be taken when considering donations from people facing criminal proceedings, tax exiles or ‘where there is a risk of significant damage to the university’s reputation’.
John Christensen, executive director of the Tax Justice campaign, says: ‘The situation with Firtash would suggest the university hasn’t done proper due diligence checks.’
A university spokesman tells me of the controversy: ‘We are aware of the situation. It would be inappropriate to comment further until this matter is resolved.
‘The benefaction from the Firtash Foundation is used solely for educational purposes and the foundation has no influence over its allocation.’
At least Mrs Firtash can rely on the support of her friend, former Fleet Street editor Sue Douglas, who recently said: ‘She is a sharp businesswoman in her own right and should not be defined by who she is married to, any more than I ever want to be judged by my ex-husband, Niall Ferguson.’
Except that Ferguson, a Harvard University history professor and TV presenter, has never been arrested, nor is he wanted by the FBI.
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