MI5 suspected that the German founder of Rolex was a Nazi spy, the Telegraph can reveal.

Formerly classified documents at the National Archives show how secret service agents feared Hans Wilsdorf should be blacklisted due to his “strong” sympathies for Adolf Hitler’s regime .

The Second World War papers, dated between 1941 and 1943, state that Wilsdorf was “most objectionable” and “suspected of espionage”.

The file also suggested the businessman may have made much of his decision to offer British prisoners of war (POWs) free Rolex watches despite his real intentions being anything but patriotic.

The papers – many stamped from “Box 500”, the colloquial civil service nickname for MI5 due to its wartime address – show the increasing concern that Wilsdorf, a naturalised British citizen,

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