Boris Johnson reported to police watchdog over links to US model-turned-businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri
- Arcuri reportedly took part in three foreign trade missions alongside Johnson despite not being eligible, prompting allegations of conflicts of interest
- Her companies also received grants from Johnson’s promotional agency when he was mayor of London
Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been referred to a police watchdog over his links to a US businesswoman whose firms reportedly received grants when he was mayor of London, the body said on Friday.
The referral follows allegations in The Sunday Times of potential conflicts of interest over his dealings with Jennifer Arcuri, described as a former model turned tech entrepreneur, who reportedly took part in three foreign trade missions alongside Johnson in a year despite not being eligible for inclusion.
In addition, Arcuri’s companies received two sponsorship grants from the mayor’s promotional agency while he was mayor and a third grant earlier this year worth £100,000 (US$123,000) from a former ministerial colleague of Johnson in the government’s Department for Digital, Culture and Sport, the Times reported last week.
“The IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) can confirm we have received a referral from the Monitoring Officer of the Greater London Authority (GLA) regarding a conduct matter against Boris Johnson and we are currently assessing this,” the office said in a statement.
“This will take time to thoroughly assess and consider before any decision is taken as to whether it is necessary to investigate this matter.”
An official from the Greater London Authority, the city’s devolved government, has written to the prime minister noting claims he had “on more than one occasion” used his position as mayor to “benefit and reward” Arcuri.
“Subject to any explanation provided by you, these matters give rise to a suggestion that there has been a failure to safeguard the public purse and if so that amounts to a significant breach of public trust,” said the letter, from the office of the authority’s monitoring officer.
“These are the ingredients of the offence of misconduct in a public office.”
A senior government source said Johnson was given no warning of the announcement: “This is a politically motivated attack. Due process has not been followed and the timing is overtly political.”
Johnson has declined to comment in detail on the claims. The prime minister has said only that he rejects any wrongdoing.
The Times also reported that Johnson was, at the time, a regular visitor to Arcuri’s East London apartment, and that she described him at the time as “one of my best friends”.
The matter was referred to the police watchdog due the mayor of London’s dual role as police and crime commissioner for the capital. Johnson served as mayor of London from 2008 to 2016.
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The referral does not mean a full investigation, or a prosecution, will take place, and misconduct in public office is known as a complex area to prosecute. A criminal offence under common law, it penalises official wrongdoing that can be deliberate, deceitful or simply amount to excessive neglect of duty.
The government source said no evidence had been provided by the monitoring officer, “nor was the PM given any opportunity to respond to the monitoring officer prior to the publishing of a press release late on a Friday night”.
They added: “The public and media will rightly see through such a nakedly political put-up job.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The prime minster as mayor of London did a huge amount of work when selling our capital city around the world, beating the drum for London and the UK. Everything was done with propriety and in the normal way.”
Agence France-Presse and The Guardian
