The Sunday Times reported that Prince Charles wrote a thank-you letter to Dmitry Leus and provided to satisfy him in particular person after receiving a big donation for The Prince’s Foundation in May 2020.
In the letter, Charles reportedly wrote that he was “incredibly grateful” for Leus’ “immense generosity” and that the donation had given him “great comfort,” the Sunday Times reported.
The newspaper mentioned Leus had been discovered responsible in Russia of money-laundering however his conviction was later overturned. Leus, who’s reportedly looking for British citizenship, made his donations after a fixer promised a non-public assembly with Prince Charles at a Scottish citadel, the Sunday Times reported.
A spokesperson for Leus confirmed his conviction was struck out in 2007 and mentioned Leus “has a completely clean criminal record.”
The Sunday Times mentioned there was no proof that Prince Charles was conscious of any deception across the donation.
When the muse’s ethics committee raised considerations over Leus’ background, his donations have been reportedly diverted to Children & the Arts, one other charity of which Charles is a patron, the Sunday Times reported.
According to Sunday Times, Children & the Arts denied understanding something concerning the cash.
CNN was not capable of independently confirm the Sunday Times’ reporting.
A spokesperson for Leus instructed CNN Leus has made “two separate donations together totalling £500,000” to the Prince’s charity through a fixer, the Burke’s Peerage.
“Mr Leus has now learned that not all of these funds were then transferred on to the Prince’s Foundation. No funds at all were returned to him from Burke’s Peerage,” the spokesperson instructed CNN, including: “Mr Leus did not know of, or consent to, his donation being transferred to the Children’s Arts Foundation [and other organizations]. Had he been consulted, he would have chosen to use the money to help the many vulnerable children and young people that the Leus Family Foundation supports across the UK.”
The donations have been “intended to support their educational and heritage goals,” the spokesperson mentioned, including that Leus’ solely further aim for the contribution was “private hope that eventually cooperation might take place to create a National Fencing Centre.”
CNN has reached to Burke’s Peerage for remark.
Douglas Connell, chair of The Prince’s Foundation mentioned it was taking the allegations “very seriously.”
“Following the publication of an initial allegation relating to ‘middlemen’ and donors the Trustees instigated a full and rigorous investigation with the assistance of Forensic Accountants from one of the ‘big four’ accountancy firms,” he mentioned in a press release supplied to CNN.
“This investigation is ongoing and it would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this stage,” he mentioned, including that full assessment is anticipated to take a number of weeks.
According to a supply with information of donations to the charity, the muse acquired a donation of £100,000 on behalf of Leus in May 2020. The supply mentioned the quantity was returned to the sender following a gathering of the Foundation’s Ethics Committee in September 2020.
The watchdog mentioned it had been “working with the Prince’s Foundation …to better understand the use of the organization’s funds, and to gain a full understanding of the work which is being undertaken by the charity’s trustees to investigate the range of issues which have been raised.”
The allegations come per week after a former prime aide to Charles voluntarily stepped down as head of The Prince’s Foundation amid claims of misconduct reported in final week’s Sunday Times.
Prince Charles “has no knowledge of the alleged offer of honors or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities and fully supports the investigation now underway by The Prince’s Foundation,” a Clarence House spokesperson instructed CNN on Monday.
CNN’s Max Foster and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed reporting.
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