A FINNISH billionaire who inherited a fortune from the arms trade and has extensive gambling interests in Las Vegas has emerged as one of David Cameron’s major financial backers.

Poju Zabludowicz, who lives in London, has donated £70,000 to the Conservative party over the past three years. He is also one of the financial supporters of the Conservative Friends of Israel, which has also given to the party.

Zabludowicz, 55, heads the Tamares Group, which has its headquarters in Liechtenstein and has an international property portfolio, which includes a number of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. Zabludowicz is calculated by The Sunday Times Rich List to be worth more than £2 billion.

According to Electoral Commission records, Tamares provided £15,000 for Cameron’s leadership campaign in 2005 and has donated £55,000 to Conservative funds in 2006 and 2007.

Zabludowicz has also provided funds for the Conservative Friends of Israel, which in turn has donated nearly £30,000 to the Tory party.

Cameron already enjoys the backing of another foreign businessman, Mahmoud Khayami, a French citizen who has given £830,000 in the past year.

Both Zabludowicz and Khayami are registered to vote in European Union elections and are entitled to make donations to the Conservative party. However, the disclosure comes as party funding is under renewed scrutiny and the parties embark on reform negotiations.

Zabludowicz is an intriguing figure among London’s billionaires. His father, Shlomo, was an Auschwitz survivor, who moved to Finland and later built up the Israeli arms company Soltam. He later diversified into the manufacture of cooking utensils and into property investments.

After Shlomo’s death in 1994, his son took over the business and most of the defence interests were sold. Most of the family fortune is now in property, although Zabludowicz still owns a company in the United States that manufactures training ammunition. Zabludowicz is understood to be nondomiciled in the UK for tax purposes.

His wife, Anita, an interior designer and former art student from Newcastle upon Tyne, is an avid collector of contemporary art. The couple opened a gallery in north London last year to display their collection.

As well as its interests in Las Vegas, the Tamares Group owns a retail and office development in Washington, property in Times Square, New York and a business park in Haifa, Israel.

A spokesman for Zabludowicz said: “It’s the company rather than him personally [that gives to the Conservatives].” He said the donor company was based in the UK.

Conservative Friends of Israel has given to a number of Conservative constituency associations, particularly in the run-up to the last election. The organisation, which has given £29,000 to the Tories between 2003-06, is not required to reveal its financial backers. It has targeted constituencies where sitting Labour MPs have been senior figures in Labour Friends of Israel.

Zabludowicz appears not to have any gaming interests in Britain. Earlier this year the Conservatives faced down the gambling lobby by opposing plans for a supercasino in Manchester.

As a holder of nondomiciled status, Zabludowicz would be liable for a flat £25,000 levy under the proposals of George Osborne, the shadow chancellor.

A spokesman for Cameron said: “There is no secret about the fact that he is a nondom, but he has given though his UK limited companies. It is completely above board.”

Source: timesonline.co.uk

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