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Consultant paid £1.7m by Rover boss denies she was femme fatale
Ross Lydall25 Sep 2009
A businesswoman paid almost £1.7 million by the company blamed for the collapse of MG Rover after having an affair with one of its directors today protested her innocence.
Qu Li, a Chinese consultant who has been described as a "femme fatale", says she was "stoned to death" by government inspectors as she is a woman.
She denied having a relationship with Nick Stephenson, one of the "Phoenix Four" blamed for destroying the car company in 2005 while milking it for £42 million in salaries.
Ms Li, 45, said it was common for team members to work "intensively" together to secure a deal. "Maybe sometimes the support went slightly beyond the boundaries," she said. "But as far as I am concerned this was not a relationship."
Ms Li was named in a report this month by Lord Mandelson's business department that blamed MG Rover's collapse on the Phoenix Four - chairman John Towers, Peter Beale, John Edwards and Mr Stephenson.
They had bought the car manufacturer for £10 from BMW in 2000 with the hope of restoring its fortunes, but it collapsed five years later with debts of £1.3 billion and the loss of 6,500 jobs. The official report found Ms Li, who came to the UK in 1990 to study for a doctorate at Leeds university, was paid a retainer of £1,000 a week plus a car. She also earned £1,000 for every day she assisted with overseas negotiations and £750 for every day she worked on domestic negotiations.
In total, Ms Li's company was paid £1,692,794 over 15 months, despite lawyers finding that apart from translation she "didn't seem to add much".
The report found an "intimate relationship" developed between Ms Li, who was in a long-term relationship, and Mr Stephenson, who was divorced, in 2004.
Today Ms Li, told the Financial Times, said: "I feel I was stoned to death for three years by the government inspectors. Now I am being stoned to death again by the press."
She said MG Rover would have collapsed sooner had she not brokered deals worth £120 million.
She said she might emigrate because of attention on her but added: "I can still deliver a lot for this country."
Reader views (3)
"I can still deliver a lot for this country." What's that? Help to close the Post Office? Help to permanently close London Underground? Assistance in finding Lord Lucan? Croyboy's last line sums it up succinctly and I am sure ex MG-Rover workers agree!
- Michael D'Ferrari, London, 25/09/2009 13:37
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As a lady following a similar profession once commented on MPs denying wrondoing."they would, wouldn't they?" Come back Mandy Rice-Davies. You were a prophet out of your time!
- Minority Working Person, London/England, 25/09/2009 12:40
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"She was entitled to a "success fee" amounting to £740,000 for her part in a deal..."
"Entitled"? ...To get more money that other people can save in a lifetime? Just goes to show how corrupt these people's values are.
The lawyers found that apart from translation she "didn't seem to add much". Maybe they didn't know the full extent of her "duties"!
"She said she might emigrate..." No need: just go home.
- Croyboy, Croydon, 25/09/2009 10:30
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