By Matt Scott
July 30 – The Premier League club Cardiff City yesterday appointed as chairman a man who until recently led a company under investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office [SFO] amid allegations of corruption and bribery.
Mehmet Dalman was described in a Cardiff press release as “an investment banker and successful businessman with interests worldwide”. It cited Dalman’s past career highlights as having been a board member of Commerzbank and served Deutschebank and Crédit Lyonnais.
It did not mention Dalman’s six-year spell as a director and then chairman of Eurasian Natural Resources Corp [ENRC], a position he resigned in April. Friends reportedly claimed at the time he was frustrated in his attempts to improve the publicly listed, FTSE100 company.
Within days of his departure, the Financial Times reported a formal investigation into the company was under way. ENRC said: “We refute any allegations of bribery and corruption.”
The FT later reported that the SFO issued a number of senior former ENRC executives this month with ‘Section 2a’ notices compelling them to release documents and respond to inquiries. The notices override non-disclosure agreements in employment contracts.
The ENRC scandal has become a major embarrassment to the City of London, which bent its own listing rules to admit the Kazakhstan-based miner. It is now the subject of a takeover bid from three oligarchs who along with the Kazakh government are its majority shareholders.
Yet the controversy has not deterred Cardiff from strengthening their existing links with Dalman. The club’s controlling shareholder, Vincent Tan, said: “Mehmet has had many years of experience in business across the world which he has brought to this great club since becoming non executive director in January last year.”
Dalman added: “I have enjoyed my time at the club since joining the board of directors in January 2012 and now relish the opportunity to contribute further in my additional role as chairman with Cardiff City in the Premier League.”
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