Serious Fraud Office probe £112m Unite union hotel

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the operation of a edifice and league centre owned by 1 of the UK’s biggest commercialized unions, the BBC tin reveal.

Unite the Union spent a full of £112m of its members’ wealth connected the task successful Birmingham.

The gathering has since been valued astatine conscionable £29m, suggesting £83m has been wasted.

A KC-led enquiry commissioned by Unite’s wide caput Sharon Graham besides identified a missing £14m which has been described arsenic a “mystery” and does not diagnostic successful the project’s last accounts.

Unite has told the BBC the lawsuit is “now with the Serious Fraud Office” and Ms Graham would “leave nary chromatic unturned successful uncovering retired if determination was immoderate fiscal wrongdoing”.

A KC-led enquiry commissioned by Ms Graham, who took implicit arsenic Unite's wide caput successful 2021, besides identified a missing £14m which has been described arsenic a “mystery” and does not diagnostic successful the project’s last accounts.

An SFO spokesperson said: “In enactment with agelong established signifier to debar prejudice to instrumentality enforcement activity, we tin neither corroborate nor contradict immoderate probe into this matter."

The Birmingham task was intended to beryllium an concern for Unite arsenic good arsenic redeeming the national wealth with edifice and league costs.

Construction was completed successful 2020 and improvement includes a 4 prima 195 chamber hotel, a 1,000 idiosyncratic capableness league centre, arsenic good arsenic Unite’s determination offices.

Employment tribunal documents uncover the national believes its ruling enforcement assembly had been misled arsenic to the existent worth of the project.

In 2022 South Wales Police searched the union’s London office arsenic portion of a abstracted bribery, money-laundering and fraud investigation.

The unit has told the BBC that the probe is ongoing.

A Unite spokesperson said: “It is important to enactment that Sharon Graham has had to endure repeated attacks by those with overmuch to suffer since she launched these inquiries, from some wrong and extracurricular the union.

"These person been sickening and horrendous but she has remained determined to get to the truth.

“We are besides pursuing ineligible claims to retrieve wealth mislaid to the national and the wide caput has enactment safeguards successful spot to guarantee that specified things tin ne'er hap again.”