A high-profile supporter of the Conservative Party who resigned as the head of a UK Treasury body this week headed a Manx company which may have fallen victim to a huge fraud.

Tony Caplin was declared bankrupt in 2012 – and when the news broke at the weekend, he stepped down as the head of the Public Works Loan Board.

But the UK’s Independent newspaper now claims his Manx firm, Kellmar, may have been the victim of a Venezuelan bond fraud worth ?1.2 billion.

The company, which was based in Athol Street, was struck off the Island’s Company Register last year and it’s claimed this may have led to his financial ruin.

Mr Caplin, former chief operating officer at the Conservative Party, set up Kellmar in 2011 – its registered office was the old courthouse in Douglas.

The Independent claims the company collapsed after it failed to pay ?42,000 in fees owed to advocates who set it up, and Mr Caplin was declared bankrupt months later.

The newspaper claims the firm thought it was in line to receive a $2 billion Venezuelan bond from the president of the country’s central bank – but it was never transferred and now seems likely to have been a hoax.

Nelson Merentes from Venzuela’s Ministry of Finance and Planning has denied sending the letter, which contains a number of inaccuracies that raise the possibility it was fraudulent.Clip 1