City director sacked for flagging ‘Chinese spy’ wins £500,000

A City director has been awarded more than £500,000 after he was sacked for blowing the whistle on his employers, who had ordered him to obtain a British visa for an alleged Chinese spy.
Bharat Bhagani was a compliance officer at Goldenway Global Investments, the British subsidiary of a Hong Kong-registered group, which wanted a work visa for a person who it transpired was a “Chinese espionage agent”.
Bhagani told an employment tribunal that he had alerted the authorities after his managers ordered him to obtain the visa. He said he was “interrogated” by investigators before the alleged spy was deported. He then informed the Financial Conduct Authority, the City watchdog, and made a series of claims against Goldenway, a foreign exchange brokerage, including money laundering.
Bhagani has been awarded about £564,000 in compensation after a tribunal in central London ruled that he had been unfairly sacked.
The tribunal was told that in 2022 Bhagani informed the financial watchdog of his concerns about a possible Chinese spy. He alleged that Goldenway’s “corporate owner had caused him to assist in gaining a UK visa for a Chinese espionage agent who was subsequently deported”.
The tribunal was also told that Bhangani was in dispute with his bosses after they attempted to force him to co-operate with the appointment to London of two directors from Hong Kong.
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Bhangani said in evidence that it was his view that the proposed moves would violate British financial rules and as a result he again alerted the authorities.
According to the tribunal, he told bosses in Hong Kong: “I have asked the regulators to come in … Please stop all communication with London staff. You will prejudice the regulators’ investigation. I have called in the regulators and I am certainly not stepping down. I represent the FCA.”
Bhagani acknowledged that he had alerted the authority even though it did not have a remit to deal with espionage allegations. He told the tribunal that it was his view that the issue was “about the conduct of the [company], its fitness and propriety when it is applying for approval for two Hong Kong-based directors”.
The company, which is no longer allowed to do business in Britain, sacked Bhagani shortly after he alerted the watchdog.
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In his ruling, the tribunal judge, Mark Emery, described the dismissal as unfair because Bhaganai had legitimately blown the whistle on the company, noting that it was “reasonable” for him to have suspected wrongdoing.
Emery said that the tribunal accepted Bhagani’s evidence regarding the “alleged Chinese espionage agent, that he was contacted by the authorities and informed this individual had been deported on this ground”.
The tribunal noted that Bhagani’s evidence regarding the spy had not been “seriously challenged” and that it accepted that he had a “reasonable belief” that the company “had attempted to recruit a Chinese espionage agent”. The decision to blow the whistle was “in the public interest”, the tribunal said.
The judge also ruled that Bhagani had a “reasonable” belief that the company tried to launder money and that “his dismissal as director was designed to expedite” the transfer of allegedly dirty funds.
The judge said Bhagani’s bosses in Hong Kong viewed him “as a threat and no longer an asset”. They were convinced that if Bhagani “had he remained in post and continued to make these disclosures to the FCA he would have caused the [company] significant regulatory difficulties”, the judge added.
The tribunal ruled that Bhagani had been “justified in his actions”.
Responding to the case in January, the Chinese embassy said: “The so-called ‘Chinese espionage agent’ related to an employment dispute case, is completely based on hearsay evidence and also is created out of nothing. We firmly oppose any malicious slander against China.”