British Conservative Party Reportedly Received Funds From Medical Marijuana Business Money Laundering

Bassim Haidar, a British businessman who reportedly donated to the Conservative Party with funds from the laundering of medical cannabis business money. (BH Holding)

JAKARTA The British Conservative Party reportedly received donations from the proceeds of medical marijuana business laundering. Reported by The Mirror, the party currently led by British PM Rishi Sunak received a donation of 300 thousand pounds sterling, or nearly IDR 6 billion.

The donation of that amount was handed over by Bassim Haidar. The 52-year-old is a Lebanese-blooded British businessman, who was born in Nigeria. Haidar's business is engaged in the telecommunications sector of Channel IT, which operates in 19 countries. Even though he has a legal business, Haidar is also mentioned as managing the illegal business he runs in Africa. One of them is medical marijuana.

As a tajir entrepreneur in the telecommunications sector, Haidar is known to like to hang out with jetsets. Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, rap group Black Eyed Peak, and PM Sunak are several names known to be close to Haidar. Through his wealth, Haidar also has a collection of high-end property in the UK, luxury cars, private jets, and cruise ships that he bought from businessmen of Egyptian descent owner of the high end Harrods department, Mohamed Al-Fayed.

The Mirror wrote that in 2023 in addition to donating more than 300 thousand pounds for the Conservative Party, Haidar also donated 70 thousand pounds for Mozammel Hossain.

Hossain, who was born and raised in Bangladesh, is one of the candidates for the Mayor of London from the Conservative Party for this year's election. He will compete with the incumbent from the Labor Party, Sadiq Khan, who has led London since 2016.

Responding to rumors about donations from money laundering, the Conservative Party issued an official statement, which stated: "Consensions to the Conservative Party are announced correctly and transparently to the General Elections Commission, and published publicly by them."