Boris overruled officials for ‘best friend’

Boris Johnson failed to declare potential conflicts of interest with a former model after giving her public money.

Jennifer Arcuri posing in 2013, the year she attended the Tory party conference. Picture: Supplied

Boris Johnson failed to declare a series of potential conflicts of interest over a close friendship with an American model turned technology entrepreneur during his time as London mayor.

An investigation by The Sunday Times can reveal that the woman, Jennifer Arcuri, was given a total $230,000 in public money and privileged access to three official overseas trade missions led by Johnson.

Sources have confirmed that Johnson, now 55 and prime minister, was a regular visitor to Arcuri’s top-floor flat in Shoreditch, east London.

Arcuri, who was in her late twenties at the time, is claimed to have described him as “one of her best friends”.

Evidence obtained by this newspaper shows that in 2013 Arcuri’s fledgling business received $18,500 in sponsorship cash from an organisation that Johnson was responsible for as London mayor. He attended numerous events she arranged that promoted her company.

Arcuri was also given preferential treatment when it came to joining overseas trade missions led by Johnson. Her business had not met the eligibility criteria for any of the three Johnson trade missions she attended in the space of just a year.

Initial decisions to turn her down for two of those trips were overturned after intervention by Johnson and his close team in the mayor’s office.

One internal email shows how she was given access to a New York trade mission after she discussed the matter with Johnson and he was said to have been happy for her to take part.

As mayor, Johnson was bound by the Greater London Authority’s code of conduct “to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest”.

Jennifer Arcuri joining Boris Johnson on his mayoral campaign in 2012. Picture: Supplied

He was also expressly barred from providing any undue benefits to friends.

Arcuri, 34, launched herself in London seven years ago as a would-be technology entrepreneur and has been lauded as one of the industry’s movers and shakers.

Her two tiny companies, however, have jointly lost more than $1.8 million, according to their latest accounts last year.

The former model was also given a $27,000 government grant in 2014 under the Sirius Programme designed to encourage foreign entrepreneurs to build businesses in Britain.

In June last year, she relocated back to America, but her latest company still managed to win a $185,000 grant intended for British-based businesses from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) earlier this year.

The department is now investigating the award of the grant after The Sunday Times’s inquiries discovered that Arcuri’s company’s registered address — which was used on the grant application form — is a rented house in Cheshire, northwest England, that is no longer connected to her. She now lives in California.

Johnson was instrumental in helping Arcuri’s business get off the ground by being the guest speaker on four occasions at her Innotech networking summits for policymakers and the London technology community.

Arcuri and Johnson were photographed together on many occasions. She heaped praise on Johnson in social media, defended him from attacks on Twitter, took part in his mayoral campaign, and posted photos she had taken of his speeches at party conferences and a charity event.

The two became close friends and Johnson is said to have made “many visits” to her flat. Chandan Daryanani, the owner of the building, claims Arcuri told him that Johnson was a frequent visitor. He said: “He definitely used to come along and they were very close friends … she mentioned once he was one of her best friends”.

Arcuri did not address questions about the friendship in a statement to this newspaper.

She said: “Any grants received by my companies and any trade mission I joined were purely in respect of my role as a legitimate businesswoman.”

Downing Street declined to comment.

The Times