Beatrice Tollman, founder of a luxury hotel chain, made her most recent donation of £20,000 to the Tories earlier this month to boost the party's General Election campaign coffers . The Conservatives yesterday returned a donation of £50,000 from a wealthy hotelier who the American authorities once wanted to extradite to face tax fraud charges. Beatrice Tollman, founder of a luxury hotel chain, made her most recent donation of £20,000 to the Tories earlier this month to boost the party's General Election campaign coffers. But last night it emerged that she has previously been charged with conspiracy to evade millions of dollars in tax before the charges were dismissed by a judge. However on the same day in 2008 her husband Stanley Tollman pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Mr Tollman repaid more than 100 million US dollars to America after the couple spent five years fighting off attempts to extradite Mrs Tollman from the UK over claims the South African couple had millions stashed in the Channel Islands. The Tollman's son, Brett, pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2003 and was sentenced to more than two years in prison, as well as a $3.5 million penalty. The revelation by the Independent newspaper will prove embarrassing for David Cameron, who recently admitted he got angry over aggressive tax avoidance and people who did not pay what they owe. Last week his party's manifesto pledged to raise £5 billion from clamping down on tax avoidance during the next Parliament. A Conservative spokesman said: 'We were not aware of this issue but in light of these findings we will be returning donations from the Tollmans. Donations from the Tollmans were fully declared and in strict accordance with electoral law.' Since 2011, Mrs Tollman has donated more than £50,000 to the Conservatives. She and her husband were close friends of Margaret Thatcher and were guests of the Reagans at the White House. In his memoirs, her husband said he only pleaded guilty to get the US authorities to leave his family in peace. The revelation  will prove embarrassing for David Cameron, who recently admitted he got angry over aggressive tax avoidance and people who did not pay what they owe . He wrote: 'It was galling to listen to these vast sums of money being referred to as though they were merely numbers and to the fact that I had agreed to hand all this money to the US Government. 'But the future peace and security of the family which this agreement would secure meant that I could see advantage in what I was about to do. But that did not make it right.' A spokesman for Mr and Mrs Tollman told the Independent: 'In so far as Mrs Tollman is concerned you will see she is of good character and was acquitted of all charges.' Responding to Mr Tollman's guilty plea, a spokesman said: 'Stanley Tollman admitted to having failed to report on his US tax return two bank accounts situated outside the US. It was that omission for which he was sentenced to one day's unsupervised probation. 'The reality is that the financial settlement was the only means through which his family were going to be able to get on and lead their lives without being coerced by the Americans.'
Tories returned donation from Beatrice Tollman, founder of hotel chain .
She had previously been charged with conspiracy to evade millions of dollars in tax before the charges were dismissed by a judge .
But on same day husband Stanley Tollman pleaded guilty to tax evasion .