New probe over mystery £100k Russian loan

‘Organised meetings with Jacob Rees-Mogg’

EMBATTLED David Warburton last night faced the prospect of another misconduct probe – into a mysterious £100,000 loan from a Russian billionaire businessman.

The MP for Somerton and Frome was revealed to have accepted the massive handout in 2017 from Roman Joukovski, a specialist in offshore tax advice and an expert in helping the ultra rich to secure golden investor visas to the UK.

It is not known what the lump sum was for.

However, under parliamentary rules, MPs are required to declare loans within 28 days if they are related to their political activities.

Last night, the MPs’ Register of Interests did not appear to show details of Mr Warburton’s financial relationship with Mr Joukovski.

In 2014, Britain’s financial regulator refused to certify the businessman as a ‘fit and proper person’ to offer financial advice, while a recent ruling by the Financial Conduct Authority also saw one of his businesses forced into insolvency, according to reports.

Despite this, Mr Warburton agreed to take on the £100,000 loan five years ago.

The money is said to have been funnelled to the MP via an offshore entity linked to the Russian’s family trust.

Acknowledging the favour, Mr Warburton is then said to have taken Mr Joukovski to the Palace of Westminster and used his parliamentary email address to organise meetings for the businessman, including one with Jacob Rees-Mogg, who at the time was a Tory Party backbencher.

Insiders with direct knowledge of the transaction have confirmed that Mr Warburton has since repaid the money at high levels of interest.

If pursued by the parliamentary authorities, Mr Warburton could face another investigation, this time by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.