U.K. donor tied to Russian cash

Bank alerts agency on contribution to Conservative Party

LONDON — One of the biggest donors to Britain’s Conservative Party is suspected of secretly funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party from a Russian account, according to a bank alert filed to Britain’s national law enforcement agency.

The donation, of $630,225, was made in February 2018 in the name of Ehud Sheleg, a wealthy London art dealer who was most recently the Conservative Party’s treasurer. The money was part of a fundraising blitz that helped propel Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his party in the 2019 general election.

But documents filed with authorities last year and reviewed by The New York Times say that the money originated in a Russian account of Sheleg’s father-inlaw, Sergei Kopytov, who was once a senior politician in the previous pro-Kremlin government of Ukraine. He now owns real estate and hotel businesses in Crimea and Russia.

“We are able to trace a clear line back from this donation to its ultimate source,” Barclays bank wrote in a January 2021 alert to the National Crime Agency. The bank, which maintained some of the accounts used in the transaction, flagged the donation as both suspected money laundering and a potentially illegal campaign donation.

A lawyer for Sheleg acknowledged that he and his wife received millions of dollars from his father-in-law in the weeks before the donation. But they said that was “entirely separate” from the campaign contribution.

“There is absolutely no basis for suggesting that Kopytov’s gift for his daughter was intended as, or for the purpose of making, a political donation to the Conservative Party,” the lawyer, Thomas Rudkin, wrote in response to questions from reporters.

It is illegal for political parties to accept donations of more than 500 British pounds from foreign citizens who are not registered to vote in Britain. Kopytov is not listed on the national voter register, records show. It is not clear why the Barclays alert arrived three years after the donation, or whether the authorities had investigated it.

Wealthy Russian industrialists have given heavily to the Conservative Party over the years. Johnson once played a game of tennis with the wife of a Russian former minister in exchange for a $270,000 donation. But those donors were British citizens, while documents filed in Sheleg’s case say the money came from a foreign source.

Now, as President Vladimir Putin of Russia lays siege to Ukraine, Johnson is one of the world’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine. He visited the country and pledged British support for its defense. He has also vowed to change course and get tough on Russian money.

There is no indication that the Conservative Party or Johnson knew about the source of the donation as outlined in the alert. But under English law, political parties are responsible for ensuring that their donations come from legal sources.

Lawyers for Sheleg said that the party made no requests for additional information or documentation when he made the donation.

A spokesperson would not say whether the party ever investigated the donation or whether it planned to keep the money. And Johnson sidestepped questions about it Thursday. “To give donations to a political party in this country, you’ve got to be from the U.K.,” he said in an interview with Sky News.

During Sheleg’s time as treasurer, the party received a surge in Russia-linked donations. He also donated generously himself: a total of 3.8 million pounds from 2017 to 2020.

In September 2021, seven months after Barclays alerted law enforcement officials to the donation, Sheleg quietly left his role as party treasurer. There is no indication that his departure is linked to any investigation into him, the donation or the source of his wealth.

Law enforcement officials have never contacted Sheleg in relation to his donation, his lawyers said.