LONDON – One of Britain’s biggest donors to the Conservative Party is suspected of secretly transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party from a Russian account, according to a banking alert sent to the food agency. England’s national law exam.
The $630,225 donation was made in February 2018 in the name of Ehud Sheleg, a wealthy London art dealer who was most recently treasurer for the Conservative Party. The money is part of a fundraising campaign that helped bring Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his party to a landslide victory in the 2019 general election.
But documents filed with authorities last year and reviewed by The New York Times say the money came from a Russian account held by Sheleg’s father-in-law, Sergei Kopytov, a former politician senior level in the previous pro-Kremlin government. of Ukraine. He now owns real estate and hotel businesses in Crimea and Russia.
Barclays Bank wrote in a January 2021 warning to the National Crime Agency: “We can trace a clear line from this donation to its ultimate source. The bank, which maintains some of the accounts used in the transaction, flagged the donation as both suspected money laundering and as a potentially illegal campaign donation.
An attorney for Mr. Sheleg admitted that he and his wife had received millions of dollars from their father-in-law in the weeks leading up to the donation. But they say that is “completely separate” from the campaign’s contribution.
“There is absolutely no basis to believe that Mr. Kopytov’s gift to his daughter was for the purpose or purpose of making a political donation to the Conservative Party,” lawyer Thomas Rudkin wrote in response to a question from the newspaper. The Times .
It is illegal for political parties to accept donations of more than £500 from foreign nationals who are not registered to vote in the UK. Mr. Kopytov was not on the national list of voters, records show. It’s not clear why Barclays’ warning came three years after the donation, or whether authorities have investigated it.
It’s no secret that wealthy Russian industrialists have been pro-Conservatives over the years. Mr. Johnson used to play a game of tennis with the wife of a former Russian minister in exchange for a $270,000 donation. But those donors are British nationals, while documents in Mr Sheleg’s case say the money came from a foreign source.
For decades, Russian wealth has poured into London’s economy, enriching the lawyers, accountants and real estate brokers who have captured the details. British leaders look the other way, even as the Kremlin spreads disinformation, interfere in elections and try to catch politicians.
Now, as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia besiege UkraineMr Johnson is one of the most outspoken Ukraine supporters in the world. He visited the country and pledged British support for his defense. He also swore to change course and Russian money trouble.
But after years of Russian money infiltrating Britain, Mr Sheleg’s donation and his subsequent joining of the party show how difficult the process of change will be.
Banks in the UK are required to alert law enforcement officials to suspected criminal behaviour. They do so through the National Crime Agency, which receives over half a million reports of suspicious activity each year. Most came from financial institutions, but law firms, real estate agents and casinos also contributed.
Warnings may include reports of suspected terrorist financing, romance scams, or interest fraud. Former officials say they received numerous warnings that some were never read – a fact that would is an obstacle to the government’s crackdown on Russian oligarchs’ money.
There is no indication that the Conservatives or Mr Johnson were aware of the source of the donation as outlined in the warning. But under British law, political parties are responsible for ensuring that their donations come from legitimate sources.
Mr. Sheleg’s lawyers say the party made no requests for additional information or documents when he made the donation.
A spokesman would not say whether the party has ever investigated the donation or whether it plans to keep the money. And Mr Johnson ignored questions about it on Thursday. “To donate to a political party in this country, you have to be from the UK,” he said in an interview with Sky News.
Mr Kopytov, who the alert identified as the ultimate source of the donation, is the father of Mr. Sheleg’s wife, Liliia Sheleg. He served in Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin government until Russia annexed the region in 2014. Since then, he has mostly disappeared from public view.
Company records show that he owns two hotels in Crimea. However, the origin and extent of Mr. Kopytov’s wealth at the time of the donation is unclear. Company records from that period show only business relationships with nonprofits, small or dormant businesses, with his most valuable stock worth less than $300. la.
Mr Kopytov, in a statement provided by Mr Sheleg’s lawyer, said he was a Ukrainian citizen and had not donated to any British political parties.
“I’m not interested in British politics,” he said. “Any donation by my son-in-law to a political party in the UK has nothing to do with me or with the money I give to my daughter.”
The alert said $2.5 million was transferred from Mr. Kopytov’s bank account in Russia in January 2018. That money was moved across Europe between the couple’s empty bank accounts. Sheleg.
Next, the money was transferred to an offshore account linked to the Sheleg family trust.
Records say five weeks later it was put back into the couple’s joint UK account. The next day, $630,225 was transferred to the Conservative Party bank account. The transactions were made in dollars, records show. The party recorded it as a £450,000 donation.
“Kopytov can be firmly established as the true source of the donation,” the warning reads.
Mr. Sheleg’s attorney said that was not the case. He said the amount of $2.5 million as gifts, obtained from the sale of real estate, was transferred to the family’s trust fund to pay off debt. Mr Sheleg then borrowed money from that trust to donate to the Conservative Party, he said.
However, banking investigators were suspicious because all of Shelegs’ personal bank accounts used in the transactions had zero balances before the money from Mr. Kopytov arrived, the report said. All return to zero when the money is left. This “would be difficult to argue that the donation was somehow from the personal property of Ehud or Lilia Sheleg,” the warning said, misspelled Sheleg’s name.
When asked about zero balances, Mr Sheleg’s attorney said account balances fluctuate. It is important, he said, that Mr Sheleg does not depend on his father-in-law’s money for donations.
Moving money quickly in and out of multiple bank accounts, especially between different countries and foreign jurisdictions, is sometimes a sign of what’s going on. Anti-Money Laundering Officials Called “Classification.” The process is intended to conceal the source of the funds, and officials have urged banks to track such transfers, which could help explain why the donation was flagged.
Reports of suspicious activity are confidential by law. A spokesman for Barclays and a spokesman for the National Crime Agency declined to discuss the matter. Crime agencies often pass these reports on to other agencies for investigation. A spokesman for the Electoral Commission, which leads the investigation into campaign finance, said it was not aware of any charges against Mr. Sheleg.
Mr Sheleg donated more in the following months, including one of £750,000, making him the party’s biggest donor that year. Documents reviewed by The Times say nothing about subsequent donations.
Warnings about Mr Sheleg’s financial background and Russia connections came shortly after the donation and did nothing to slow Mr Sheleg’s political ascent – or prevent the party from receiving millions more. la from him.
Months after the donation, British political and investigative magazine Private Eye reported that Mr Sheleg hosted the Russian ambassador in London at the height of the disaster from the annexation of Crimea. Around that time, Mr. Sheleg became a partner with a businessman in Cyprus who was accused of having links to Russian organized crime groups, the magazine reported. The photos show Mr. Sheleg and his business partner meeting the president of the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
Mr Sheleg’s lawyers said he had met the businessman with alleged links to Russian organized crime groups only “three or four times” and was not his partner. Mr. Sheleg met with the president of Tatarstan solely for “business purposes”, the lawyers said.
By the time those revelations were made public, Mr. Sheleg was no longer a sponsor. In the fall of 2018, he became treasurer of the Conservative Party, a position responsible for raising funds and ensuring that the party follows campaign-finance rules.
The warnings come at a height of concern about Russian influence in Britain. Kremlin agents have been accused of poisoning a former Russian spy, Sergei V. Skripalon British soil, sparking fierce calls for more sanctions against Russia.
However, when a British opposition lawmaker called for an investigation into Mr Sheleg’s donations and his “troubled links” to Russia, the Conservative Party chairman at the time said Mr Sheleg no need to reveal the source of his wealth and make libel threats.
And when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, he immediately appointed Mr. Sheleg as the party’s sole treasurer. Mr. Sheleg conceived and helped form a secret advisory board, which later revealed by the Times of London, including extremely wealthy Conservative donors. He was knighted soon after.
During her time as treasurer, the party received a large number of donations related to Russia. Mr Sheleg has also donated generously: a total of £3.8 million between 2017 and 2020.
In September 2021, seven months after Barclays alerted law enforcement officials to the donation, Mr. Sheleg quietly left his role as party treasurer. There is no indication that his departure is related to any investigation into him, the donation or the source of his wealth.
Law enforcement officials have never contacted Mr. Sheleg regarding his donation, his attorneys said.
