Mayday Rescue
Dutch-registered foundation and related commercial entities that channelled Western funding to the White Helmets; founded by James Le Mesurier
| Mayday Rescue | |
|---|---|
| Type | Dutch stichting (foundation); Dubai free-zone company; Turkish company |
| Logo | |
| Founded | 2014 (Mayday Rescue FZ-LLC and Turkish entity); 2015 (Stichting) |
| Founder(s) | James Le Mesurier |
| Dissolved | |
| Registration ID | |
| Status | Wound down / in administration after 2019–2020 |
| Headquarters | Netherlands (Stichting); Dubai (FZ-LLC); Istanbul operations |
| Location | |
| Area served | |
| Services | Training, equipment and mentorship for Syria Civil Defence (White Helmets) |
| Registration | |
| Key people | James Le Mesurier (founder); Emma Winberg (director); Rupert Davis; Per Thiessen; Johan Eleveld |
| Website | mayday.org (archived) |
| Remarks | Primary implementing partner for UK, Dutch, Danish, German and other funding to the White Helmets; UK payments of £43 million (2015–2018) went to the Dubai commercial entity |
Mayday Rescue refers to a cluster of entities founded by James Le Mesurier that served as the principal Western implementing partner for training, equipment and support to the Syria Civil Defence (the White Helmets) between 2014 and 2019. The network comprised Mayday Rescue FZ-LLC (Dubai, 2014), Mayday Search and Rescue Training and Consultancy Services Limited (Turkey, 2014) and Stichting Mayday Rescue Foundation (Netherlands, 2015). UK government payments of £43 million between 2015 and 2018 were made to the Dubai commercial company, not the Dutch stichting. The organisation was closely linked to ARK Group (where Le Mesurier worked 2011–2014) and became the subject of intense scrutiny over its finances, its role in OPCW investigations and its relationship to UK foreign-policy objectives in Syria.[1]
Company structure
The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media reconstructs the entities as follows:
Le Mesurier was founder of three companies named “Mayday Rescue”: Mayday Rescue FZ-LLC in Dubai (2014), Mayday Search and Rescue Training and Consultancy Services Limited in Turkey (2014) and Stichting Mayday Rescue Foundation in the Netherlands (2015). No accounts are available for any of these companies.
It further notes:
Stichting Mayday Rescue Foundation is not registered as a charitable organisation (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling) and as it is “without commercial enterprise” it does not have to file accounts. In the Netherlands a Stichting is commonly used as a vehicle to disburse overseas investment income to undisclosed beneficiaries while minimizing tax liability.
Additional vehicles linked to Le Mesurier included R3covery BV (Amsterdam, founded April 2017) and My Zahara Limited (northern England, registered January 2019). The briefing observes:
In April 2017 Le Mesurier founded what appears to have been a dummy company named R3Covery BV based in Amsterdam. This company has failed to comply with the legal requirement to file accounts. A possible intended or actual use for this company was to tunnel money out of the Stichting.
and
In January 2019 Le Mesurier registered My Zahara Limited as a dormant company in northern England. As the address belongs to a company formation agent that specializes in business tax management and compliance with money laundering regulations, it is likely that the intended use of this company was to repatriate money from Le Mesurier’s overseas companies.
Funding
FCO expenditure records show payments totalling £43 million between May 2015 and October 2018. After FOI requests the Foreign and Commonwealth Office admitted that these payments were made to Mayday Rescue FZ-LLC in Dubai rather than to the Dutch stichting. Dutch government funding included two payments totalling €5.19 million (with further cumulative figures reported near €10 million). Other donors listed on archived Mayday materials included Denmark, Germany and France (the latter recorded at $607,311 in 2019 via UN Financial Tracking Services). Overall multi-donor totals for Mayday have been reported in the region of $120–140 million between 2014 and 2019.[1][2]
The briefing states:
After providing misleading answers to questions submitted under the Freedom of Information Act, the FCO has admitted that its payments to “Mayday Rescue” for support of the White Helmets – £43 million from 2015 to 2018 – were made not to Stichting Mayday Rescue Foundation but to the commercial company Mayday Rescue FZ-LLC in Dubai.
and
FCO expenditure records show payments totalling £43 million between May 2015 and October 2018.
Relationship to ARK and the White Helmets
Le Mesurier worked with Alistair Harris at ARK from 2011 to 2014. ARK had been founded in Beirut in 2009; ARK FZC was registered in Dubai in 2011. Mayday Rescue FZ-LLC was spun out of ARK in 2014 so that Le Mesurier could focus exclusively on the White Helmets. The briefing notes:
2011-2014: worked with the former diplomat Alistair Harris at ARK. [Ark-Lebanon] had been founded in 2009 in Beirut, and [ARK FZC] was registered in Dubai in 2011.
Early seed funding of approximately $300,000 from Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom enabled Le Mesurier, working with the Turkish disaster-response team AKUT, to establish initial training courses for Syrian rescuers recruited via the Syrian National Council.[1]
Role in OPCW investigations
The Working Group paper claims that Le Mesurier worked closely with OPCW Fact-Finding Mission personnel to select White Helmets witnesses:
OPCW inspectors have told us that during the investigations of alleged chemical attacks in opposition-held territory conducted by the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) from 2015 onwards, Le Mesurier worked closely with Len Phillips, the leader of FFM Team Alpha, to select White Helmets as “witnesses” for interview by the investigation team in Turkey.
The authors further observe that, given Le Mesurier’s prior military-intelligence experience (including as Intelligence Coordinator for Pristina City in KFOR, 1999–2000),
As an experienced military intelligence officer, Le Mesurier should have been able to assess this evidence [of staged chemical attacks].
Key associated individuals
- James Le Mesurier – founder of the Mayday entities; former British Army officer; ARK employee 2011–2014; died in Istanbul, 11 November 2019.
- Emma Winberg – director of the Stichting from 2018; Le Mesurier’s wife; previously employed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
- Rupert Davis – associated with Chameleon Global Limited and earlier Mayday governance.
- Per Thiessen – involved in IATI reporting of Dutch funds.
- Johan Eleveld – chief finance officer who raised internal concerns that triggered later audits.
- Alistair Harris – founder of ARK; Le Mesurier’s former employer.
- Len Phillips – OPCW FFM Team Alpha leader with whom Le Mesurier is said to have coordinated witness selection.
Financial scrutiny and aftermath
In 2019 Dutch auditors and subsequent forensic work by Grant Thornton examined cash withdrawals (including a $50,000 “emergency fund” withdrawal in 2018), salary levels and bookkeeping. Grant Thornton’s summary concluded there was “no evidence of misappropriation of funds” and that the cash withdrawals by Le Mesurier and Winberg “were justified and are accounted for.” The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office stated that an independent investigation found no evidence of fraud or misuse of UK funds. Mayday Rescue went into administration in 2020; subsequent White Helmets funding has been channelled in part through Chemonics. The Working Group briefing notes that by the end of October 2019 Le Mesurier was likely aware that both Mayday’s business activities and his connection to the OPCW Douma investigation were under close scrutiny.[1][2]
See also
- James Le Mesurier
- White Helmets
- ARK Group
- Alistair Harris
- Emma Winberg
- Commission for International Justice and Accountability
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, James Le Mesurier: a reconstruction of his business activities and covert role Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, 16 December 2019 (updated 26 March 2021).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wikipedia, Mayday Rescue Foundation Wikipedia, accessed 10 October 2026.