Russian link to prince’s foundation
BY KATHLEEN SPEIRS A CHARITY set up by Prince Charles to renovate a stately home received donations from a Russian tycoon, it has been reported.
Money to restore Dumfries House in Ayrshire came from a network of offshore companies being linked to a major fraud investigation, according to the BBC.
Russian oligarch Ruben Vardanyan oversaw the network, moving money from Russia to more than 70 offshore firms.
Among these payments was money donated to The Prince’s Charities Foundation, which received three payments amounting to $202,000 via a bank in Lithuania between 2009 and 2011.
The money was moved through shutdown Ukio Bankas, owned by former Heart of Midlothian FC owner Vladimir Romanov.
Vardanyan managed the network and was the chief executive at bank Troika Dialog.
The donations were, said Vardanyan, charitable donations intended to “preserve architectural heritage”.
The tycoon attended an event at Windsor Castle in 2010 where the Charles discussed restoring Dumfries House.
Vardanyan maintains he was not involved in the day-to-day operations of Troika Dialog.
A spokesman for Clarence House said Charles’s charities operate independently of the prince in relation to all decisions around fundraising.
A spokesman for The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Foundation and The Dumfries House Trust said: “The charities apply robust due diligence processes. In the case of the examples highlighted, no red flags arose during those processes.”