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  • Labour peer Waheed Alli put fashion retailer Koovs into administration in 2019
  • He bought it back at a reduced price that day, leaving shareholders penniless
  • One investor lost his entire £200,000 pension and savings pot after collapse 

By Chris Pollard

Published: | Updated:

the millionaire donor at the centre of Sir Keir Starmer‘s cronyism scandal has been accused of ‘wrecking lives’ by those who lost their life savings to one of his companies.

Labour peer Waheed Alli unexpectedly placed his Delhi-based online fashion retailer Koovs – dubbed the ‘Asos of India‘ – into administration in December 2019 but bought it back at a reduced price the same day, leaving small shareholders penniless. 

Many accused him of withholding vital information that led to the loss of their pensions and savings – and are calling for him to be stripped of his peerage.

It comes after Lord Alli was handed an all-access security pass for Downing Street after donating £500,000 to Labour, including £20,000 to Sir Keir for new clothes and spectacles. 

Andrew Philpott, 59, from Barnsley, lost his entire £200,000 pension and savings pot when Koovs collapsed.

Waheed Alli, the millionaire donor at the centre of Sir Keir Starmer's cronyism scandal, has been accused of 'wrecking lives' by those who lost their life savings to one of his companies

Waheed Alli, the millionaire donor at the centre of Sir Keir Starmer’s cronyism scandal, has been accused of ‘wrecking lives’ by those who lost their life savings to one of his companies

Labour peer Waheed Alli unexpectedly placed his Delhi-based online fashion retailer Koovs ¿ dubbed the 'Asos of India ' ¿ into administration in December 2019 but bought it back at a reduced price the same day, leaving small shareholders penniless

Labour peer Waheed Alli unexpectedly placed his Delhi-based online fashion retailer Koovs – dubbed the ‘Asos of India ‘ – into administration in December 2019 but bought it back at a reduced price the same day, leaving small shareholders penniless

It was reported this week that Lord Alli was handed an all-access security pass for Downing Street after donating £500,000 to Labour, including £20,000 to Sir Keir

It was reported this week that Lord Alli was handed an all-access security pass for Downing Street after donating £500,000 to Labour, including £20,000 to Sir Keir 

Like several other small investors, the father-of-two worked as a warehouse engineer for online fashion giant Asos, where Lord Alli had been chairman.

Mr Philpott said: ‘I was excited to see him repeat the success of Asos in India. I believed in the man, but in an instant he caused me to lose everything.

‘I’m sure that everything he did was technically legal, but it was morally wrong. He’s a crook in my eyes. It destroyed my life.

‘The money I lost would be peanuts to Alli, but it was my life and future. 

‘If he had any decency he would compensate small investors like me, and should certainly be stripped of his peerage.’

Fellow Asos engineer Iain Wright, 61, of Doncaster, invested £60,000 of his pension fund into Koovs. 

He said: ‘I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see he’s involved in this donations scandal.’

Lord Alli did not respond to a request for comment.

Many accuse Lord Alli of withholding vital information that led to the loss of their pensions and savings ¿ and are calling for him to be stripped of his peerage in the wake of revelations he donated £500,000 to Labour

Many accuse Lord Alli of withholding vital information that led to the loss of their pensions and savings – and are calling for him to be stripped of his peerage in the wake of revelations he donated £500,000 to Labour



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