A report into a multi-million pound hotel and conference centre built by the Unite union has been handed to police amid concerns of “potential criminality”, it has emerged.
HuffPost UK revealed in February how Unite was facing a £70 million loss over the controversial project.
The union spent nearly £100m on the complex, but two independent valuations put its worth at less than £30m.
Sharon Graham, the union’s general secretary, commissioned Martin Bowdery KC to carry out an investigation after she took on the role from her predecessor, Len McCluskey, last year.
A separate inquiry by the accountancy firm Grant Thornton into Unite’s affiliated service providers was also carried out.
In a statement, the union said: “Due to very serious concerns about potential criminality that have emerged, both these reports are now being shared with the police.
“The police have requested that Unite does not release the contents of the reports while they are conducting their inquiries. Whilst these are ongoing Unite will not be making any further comment.
“The general secretary is committed to doing all in her power to recoup any monies lost, by all means necessary and holding anyone responsible to account.
“It is clear this transparency would not have happened without the determination of the general secretary to ‘leave no stone unturned’ to get to the truth.”
Last year, Len McCluskey described the hotel as a “sensible investment of members’ money, resulting in a world-class facility that will return an income for our union for generations to come”.
Unite is the Labour Party’s largest single donor.
It emerged this week that the union gave the party more than £700,000 between July and September.
