EXPOSED: Directors of notorious Tory-hating activist group accepted funds from Conservative donor oil baron

Despite being vehement critics of the former Conservative Government and the energy industry, GB News has learnt the pair also formerly sat on the board of The Voices Project, which raises money for relief efforts in the Syrian conflict.

Sadri and Stewart were senior executives of the group (which is also known as The Syria Campaign) when it received hundreds of thousands from Tory funder Ayman Asfari, who made a fortune at oil and gas giant Petrofac.

Asfari served as a non-executive director following his retirement as Group Chief Executive at the end of 2020. He stood down earlier this year.

Asfari was arrested in 2017 when the Serious Fraud Office launched a probe into alleged bribery by Petrofac in the Middle East. Several senior workers at the company have since been charged.

The SFO confirmed that Asfari was no longer a suspect in 2021, but by then he announced that he was standing down from the company he launched.

In 2017, former prime minister David Cameron promoted Petrofac during a visit to Bahrain, returning to Britain on a private jet owned by Asfari.

The Asfari Foundation gave The Voices Project £274,000 during the period when the climate change campaigners were directors.

In 2018, the foundation gave £74,519, and in 2019 and 2020 it gave £42,280 and £147,927 respectively.

The Asfari Foundation has said that it does not actively raise funds and that “income is received through donations from the Asfari Family to meet its objectives.”

Between 2009 and 2017 Asfari and his wife donated £800,000 to the Conservative party and are thought to have been members of the infamous “Tory Leaders” group, where members gain special access to the party’s leadership.

In 2021 the Labour Party demanded that the Conservative Party return funds that it had received from Asfari due to multiple alleged bribery scandals involving Petrofac.

Then Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: “The Conservatives must explain why they accepted so much cash from Ayman Asfari – a man described by the scandal-hit Petrofac as ‘the personification of many of its achievements’.”

She continued: “This is about the company that the Conservatives are keeping and where they’re getting their money from. They should do the right thing and hand back that cash.”

Asfari has always denied any wrongdoing throughout the investigation.
The involvement of the Led By Donkeys directors in an organisation receiving funds from a Tory funder associated with an oil and gas fortune will raise concerns of hypocrisy, as directors of the campaign group put on stunts to tackle Tory politicians and climate change.

It has put up billboards criticising right-leaning politicians over Brexit and climate change since its founding in 2019.

Last week, it put up a billboard in Clacton criticising the earnings of Nigel Farage, the town’s MP.

In 2019, it was revealed that Led By Donkeys director Ben Stewart was still an employee of Greenpeace as deputy programme director, while James Sadri had previously been employed by the campaign group.

In 2021, Stewart resigned from his post at The Voices Project, but Sadri has remained in the role.

James Sadri and Ben Stewart said: “The Voices Project is the registered name of The Syria Campaign which since 2014 has been publicly campaigning to save lives in Syria as Putin and Assad targeted civilians. One of the main focuses of the work has been raising tens of millions in aid for frontline humanitarian workers including the White Helmets.

"Many members of the Syrian diaspora have contributed to TSC - including the Asfari Foundation, a registered charity - during a war that has killed countless kids. That’s never been a secret, it’s on the internet. We’re both immensely proud of the work The Syria Campaign has done and continues to do.”

The Asfari Foundation said it was “committed to supporting civil society initiatives in the Levant region. Among these initiatives, The Syria Campaign, along with other Levant civil society partners, initially received seed funding from the Foundation until they became fully independent. They now receive funding from other donors.

“All of the Foundation’s investments in the Levant region and the UK primarily aim to strengthen a resilient civil society infrastructure and empower youth through education, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

“The Foundation’s grant-making process is not influenced by any party politics in the UK and such considerations are never a factor in our approval of any grant. The Syria Campaign focuses on supporting and showcasing the work of Syrian civil society, and therefore the foundation supported it.”