ONE of the men closely linked to the Liam Fox/ Adam Werritty scandal has become Tory donor who has given the party enough money to get invited to dine with ministers.

Fox had to resign as defence secretary in 2011 when it was revealed his friend Werritty was travelling the world with him and attending meetings, despite having no official status or clearance beyond a self-printed business card describing him as an “adviser” to Fox.

Werritty’s missions looked like an unofficial foreign policy, which was especially alarming as his travels were funded by private donations to security-linked companies.

G3 Good Governance, a security consultancy, put around £60,000 into a fund which paid for Werritty’s trips.

G3 clients included BAE Systems, Britain’s leading arms firm, and a company with a bad record of involvement in bribery and corruption.

Andre Pienaar, a South African businessman with a history of work for private security companies, founded G3 and was a director of the firm from 2010-14. Pienaar also worked with Fox before he became defence secretary.

The latest list of Register of Major Donors attending Leader’s Group meals released by the Conservative Party shows Pienaar was among those who went to a “meal with a minister in attendance” between October and December 2016.

Pienaar got the invite because he gave the Tories £50,000 in May 2016, topped up with another £4,000 in November — possibly given during the dinner itself.

For a £50,000 donation Tory supporters get membership of the Leaders Group, described by the party as the “premier supporter group of the Conservative Party. Members are invited to join Theresa May and other senior figures from the Conservative Party at dinners.”

The Tories say May, Boris Johnson, Brandon Lewis, David Davis, David Gauke, Jeremy Hunt, Patrick McLoughlin and Philip Hammond attended these dinners, but not Fox. It seems Pienaar has widened his circle of Tory ministerial friends.

Pienaar left the G3 board when he sold his shares in the firm to a Swedish investment fund in 2014. He is now an owner-director of another firm called C5, an “investment firm focused on innovating security.”

Directors and advisers of Peinaar’s new firm C5 include Sir Richard Paniguian. From 2008 to 2015 Paniguian was the head of the Defence Export Sales Organisation (Deso), a government body that promotes British arms sales.

Former boss of spy centre GCHQ Sir Ian Lobban is also a director of Pienaar’s firm C5. So is Admiral Mike Mullen, a former adviser to George W Bush, and Lt General Sir Graeme Lamb, an ex-army officer who now runs private military company Aegis.

With all these military and spy folk on board, C5 could be expected to invest in some serious security business. Current investments include some “cyber technology” companies and a machine for searching prisoners.

But the increasingly unstable world, and the need for new border and security measures after Brexit may create other investment opportunities for well-connected businessmen.