Finsen files: ory 8m Tory donor Lyubov Chernokhin associated with Putin Allied Fund

The husband of one of the Conservative Party’s biggest donors was secretly funded by Russian Aligarh with ties to President Putin.

Lubov has paid Chernobyl ચે 1.7 million to the Tories, including payments to spend time with the last three prime ministers.

Leaked files show her husband received m 8 million (6.1 million). The money came from a politician who was initially facing US sanctions because of his proximity to the Kremlin.

His lawyers say the donation is not tainted by Kremlin influence.

Leaks of banks’ “suspicious activity reports” – called Finsen Files and viewed by BBC Panorama – show that Vladimir Chernukhin was sent money in 2016 by a British Virgin Islands IT company linked to Suleiman Karimov.

• All you need to know about leaked Finsen documents

In New York, Dash Bank officials said it had 8 278.5 million in transactions involving a fashore company.

With the month of July, there has been a greater focus on donations to political parties by wealthy Russians based in the UK Parliamentary report by the Intelligence and Security Committee Mentioning the possibility they can allow people to “assist in the operation of Russian influence”.

‘Not the right and proper donor’

Billionaire Mr. Karimov is the owner of Russia’s largest gold mine and a member of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. He has been under investigation in France for tax evasion allegations since 2016.

In 2018, he was sent to the U.S. Approved by officials who were targeting them, they said “Russia has a key role to play in advancing malicious activities.”

Mr Chernokhin, a former finance minister led by Vladimir Putin, left for London, Russia in 2004 after being ousted by the president.

Chernokhins – one of the UK’s most famous Russian-born couples – are now both British citizens and live in London.

Mrs. Chernokhin’s donation to the Conservative Party began in 2012.

The majority – more than 1.5 1.5 million – was paid by her husband on April 29, 2016, who joined Mr. Karimov, although it is not clear if any of that cash went to the Tories.

Journalist and Russian expert Ed Lucas, who testified to the parliamentary inquiry into Russian influence, told Panorama: “Chernokhins, pleasant people that they may be નથી are not the right people to donate to a British political party.”

Mr Lucas said he was “deeply concerned” that not only Lubov Chernokhin, but other wealthy Russians would reach the heights of the Conservative Party and government.

Won the bid

Ms Chernokhin’s donation to Tories Reese has given her access to the UK government’s top figures.

In return for 5 135,000 she was invited to a women’s dinner at a luxury hotel in April 2019 with Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet. It is pictured above, fourth from the right.

Boris Johnson, 47, has twice won a tennis match auction. Finally, in February of this year, it cost 000 45,000.

In 2014, he paid 000 160,000 to play tennis with Prime Minister David Cameron and then the Mayor of London, Mr Johnson.

By this year, she is the largest female donor in Tories in British history. According to Election Commission records, it has disbursed a total of £ 1.7 million in the last eight years, including between 335,000 during January-July last year.

When in 2018, Boris Johnson – then Foreign Secretary – was asked about donating Chernokhins and, 160,000 tennis matches, He told the BBC One’s Andrew Marr show: “If a gentleman … acquired his property … that way if there is evidence of corrupt corruption … then it is possible for law enforcement agencies to deprive him of his property.”

But he added that “all possible scrutiny on donations has been and will continue …”.

‘Property Project Loan’

The 8 million payment was made to Mr. Chernokhin by a shfashore company called Definition Services, which is controlled by Mr. Kerimov’s children. Documents show that his funds come from his father and that it is Mr. Karimov who has a personal relationship with Mr. Chennukhin.

Deutsche Bank was processing the money, so it sent questions to officials at another bank involved in the transaction.

They said it was “a loan between the two parties aimed at supporting the borrower’s more real estate project” and that definition was involved in real estate investments.

Despite the response, Deutsche Bank filed a suspicious activity report (SAR), noting Mr Karimov’s link and payment to Mr Chernokhin.

Dutshe said the definition is “registered with high-risk jurisdictions and is banking and the business purpose of the transaction and the relationship between the parties cannot be determined.”

What do we know about Chernokhin’s money?

As part of a long-running legal battle with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska over ownership of a former industrial estate in Moscow, Mr Chennukhin’s finances have been revealed.

The High Court proceedings in London revealed that he established a trust for his wife, as well as another trust for the benefit of the couple.

Mrs. Chernokhin is described as a former banker.

He is listed as a director of four UK companies. One of them shares a detailed London correspondence address in a bank document regarding the payment of m 8m to her husband from Definition Services.

Chernokhins’ lawyers declined to say whether Mr Chernokhin received m 8 million.

But he said “Mrs. Chernokhin has never received money from Mr. Kerimov or any company affiliated with her” and that her “donations to the Conservative Party have never been blamed by the Kremlin or any other influence.”

He added that all his donations have been made public as per the rules of the Election Commission.

Suleiman Karimov’s lawyers said he denied all the allegations made by Panorama, and “nothing happened to the rich Chernokhin”.

A Conservative party spokesman said: “There are people in this country of Russian descent who are British citizens and have a democratic right to donate to any political party. “

The Finsen files are a leak of secret documents showing how big banks have allowed “dirty money” to move around the world. They see how U.S. intelligence is viewed as a “high-risk jurisdiction” and that it is obscured by Russian cash.

The files were obtained by BuzzFeed News which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 400 journalists from around the world. Panorama leads research for the BBC.

Finsen files: Full coverage; Follow the response on Twitter using #FinCENFiles; In the BBC News app, “Finsen files; See Panorama On BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only).