The LDA released information showing that charges of corruption made by Andrew Gilligan in this morning’s Evening Standard had no foundation.

No payment of £250,000 to those named in Andrew Gilligan’s allegations (Diversity International Ltd) or others in fact existed. An email from Lee Jasper had been misrepresented by Mr Gilligan in an attempt to stand up his story, but the full email from Mr Jasper in fact demolishes Gilligan’s claims and shows that Mr Jasper had acted properly, and had expressed “very real doubts” about signing a contact with this organisation.

The LDA has now released further information showing that claims by Andrew Gilligan that such payment was not made only because “the liquidator vetoed it” are also untrue.

The LDA itself refused payment after it concluded that any possible further intellectual property rights held by Diversity International Ltd over and above those already owned by the LDA, for example website source code, were not worth payment for or could be obtained from the liquidator.

An LDA email from the LDA to Lee Jasper and Manny Lewis, Chief Executive of the LDA, on 11 May 2006 states:

“Please be advised that the Liquidator has obtained control of the website which hosts the Diversity Dividend diagnostic toolkit. We are negotiating with the Liquidator to obtain assignment of the intellectual property rights we have a licence for under the Agreement.”

A further email sent to Manny Lewis on 11 May 2006 confirms:

“Dear Manny,

“I am delighted to tell you that the Liquidator has today taken control of the website on behalf of the DIL (in liquidation). He has all the passwords and source code and the old passwords and source code have been disabled.

“Effectively this means we have, for the sum of £1299.70, secured the website and its transition now to a new secure server and domain name diversityworksforlondon.com.”

Following this successful purchase of all remaining property rights from the liquidator for the sum of £1,299.70 the LDA attempted to resolve any outstanding matters with Diversity International Limited. The following email was sent from Manny Lewis to Joel O'Loughlin on 23 May 2006:

“Dear Joel

“I am writing in response to your email received this morning. It seems that it would be helpful to clarify certain issues. We have attempted for the last month, as you know, to attempt to find a commercial settlement with you on this matter. Despite our officers best efforts during a day of extensive negotiations, there was no agreement reached in Manchester as you rejected the commercial settlement which was presented. Your counter-offer of cash payments to yourself of £150 000 and Bryan Adams of £100 000 we considered, and were advised, bordered on extortion.”

The LDA made no payment to Diversity International Ltd.

A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority said:

“In short the story published by Andrew Gilligan this morning that the LDA made no payment because ‘the liquidator vetoed it’ is entirely false. The LDA took vigorous action to secure property rights not from Diversity International Ltd or Joel O’Loughlin but from the liquidator. These were secured for the sum of £1,299.70. No payment in this regard was made to Diversity International Ltd or anyone connected with it.

“The statements made by Andrew Gilligan this morning are therefore entirely false.”

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, therefore repeated his demand that in the light of Andrew Gilligan having published pages of false stories in the Evening Standard he must be dismissed. He said: “Today’s facts further explode Gilligan’s falsifications dressed up as journalism. The Evening Standard has allowed its reporting to be poisoned by Gilligan for two weeks and the paper will have to sack him to restore any credibility at all now that his story has been exposed."