MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) James Le Mesurier, the British founder of Syria's White Helmets, cheated Western donors for years, Alexander Venediktov, the deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council told Sputnik.
Russia accuses Le Mesurier's self-styled rescue volunteer group of aiding terrorists in Syria. The 48-year-old fell to his death from the window of his Istanbul apartment last year. Turkish investigators said they had found no signs of foul play.
"It turned out that... James Le Mesurier was a conman who only cared about having a luxury lifestyle. For year, he duped governments of the US, UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands. He was paid huge grants in exchange for faking 'sensational' materials," Venediktov said.
The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported he had confessed in a letter to his Western donors shortly before his death of stealing money paid to finance the White Helmets. The revelation came after a Dutch accountant found $50,000 worth of forged receipts while auditing Le Mesurier's Syria fundraiser Mayday Rescue.
