Sharad Bhimjiyani, 68, is a director of RSB Accountancy Services and in 2014, he enlisted the help of family and clients to make donations to a local councillor to support his candidacy as an MP.  

The guilty plea, heard at Warwick Crown Court, related to six donations of £1,500 made in 2014 to David Mackintosh, the Conservative party parliamentary candidate for Northampton South. Mackintosh was elected as an MP in 2015 but stood down two years later.

The amount of the payments was significant as donations to registered political parties above £1,500 are published on the website of the Electoral Commission, allowing greater public scrutiny.

In the case of each of the donations made, the payments to RSB Accountancy Services were in fact derived from funds provided by Howard Grossman, acting through his company, 1st Land Limited, a Northampton based property developer.