www.theolivepress.es EXCLUSIVE by James Bryce MYSTERY surrounds the sudden closure of an Andalucian hotel run by a British couple with links to the UK Conservative Party. Hotel Montejaque, near Ronda, closed at short notice amid suggestions of a dispute between the owner and the tenants Michael Asher and Jonathan FraserHowells over money. Various staff are also said to be in dispute with the pair over pay. “The cook turned up with a white van and loaded up stuff in lieu of wages,” said one local source. “It is pretty acrimonious and nobody is happy.” It comes after the Olive Press was asked to help probe the dealings of Asher and Fraser-Howells. The latter also runs the accounts for the Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives Association (KCFC) in London.
Embezzlement It emerges that Asher is himself a former Conservative councillor, who was intriguingly previously convicted for embezzlement under the name of Michael Vearncombe. Vearncombe was forced to resign as a Westminster
NEWS
the olive press - December 13- 26, 2012
Mystery probe into hotel closure Tory councillor after being jailed for a year in 2007 for stealing €112,000 from a local residents association. Now Fraser-Howells is at the centre of a new Tory Party probe into his role as an agent for KCFC. It was launched after concerns were raised at a meeting of the executive, the Olive Press can reveal. Sources within the association last night confirmed that a letter addressed to the Conservative Party chairman was being drafted, outlining the concerns. The investigation will focus on the conduct of Fraser-Howells in the carrying out of his duties - which include coordinating the association’s campaign team - and his links to Andalucia. So concerned is the association that it even dispatched a senior member to Spain last month to investigate the pair. After approaching the Olive Press for help, he revealed: “We are very concerned about the situation in Lon-
Conservative party pair under investigation as their rural retreat shuts amid dispute
SHUT: Hotel, with Fraser-Howells and Asher (right) don and in relation to current activity in Spain.” The pair only took the reins of the hotel, near Ronda, in June 2011. The phone remained unanswered yesterday, despite there being no reference to the hotel’s closure on its website. The hotel and adjoining bar were shut when visited by the Olive Press last week, although bizarrely the door was answered by expat Carolyn Emmett. “Michael allowed me to
store some of my furniture here but he has advised me that it would be a good idea for me to move it out of the hotel due to issues over the tenancy,” she said.
Acrimonious Another local hotelier, who asked to remain anonymous, said there had been nothing but problems with the running of the hotel in recent years and that it ‘was no surprise it had all ended
acrimoniously’. When the Olive Press attempted to contact FraserHowells through KCFC we were curtly told that ‘Jonathan doesn’t take calls from journalists’. But FraserHowells later responded via email, saying: “The hotel is closed for the winter as are many hotels in the area and indeed as we did last winter. “Emmett removed some items that she had been storing in the hotel since she moved to Montejaque 18 months ago as she had sold them.” He added that Vearncombe had changed his name to Asher after converting to judaism, but refused to comment on the Conservative probe.
5
News IN BRIEF Spanish speed ALL three Formula 1 pre-season winter tests are to be held in Jerez in 2013.
Cheap Xmas Estepona Town Hall has saved €110,000 on Christmas decorations and lights this year, with costs being paid by a private company instead.
Terror scare A Spanish intelligence officer has told a conference in Barcelona that he believes terrorists may be encouraging attacks against Spain – and specifically Andalucia.
Costa cabs The Junta is working with town halls to stamp out illegal taxi firms working without licences on the Costa del Sol.