Boris and Arcuri may have been intimate... but it was not illegal
BORIS Johnson’s close relationship with glamorous US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri may have influenced his officials to help her with trade missions and sponsorship money, an inquiry found yesterday.
But the Prime Minister will not face a criminal inquiry over his links to the cyber entrepreneur after the police watchdog said there was not enough evidence.
The report said there was ‘ some evidence’ the pair had an ‘intimate relationship’.
But it said there was nothing to support claims he had influenced payments to Miss Arcuri or her companies – although, in an email seen by investigators, a mayoral aide said the ex-model had Mr Johnson ‘eating out of her hand’.
Mr Johnson, who has always denied wrongdoing, was accused of abusing his position when he was London mayor to do favours for Miss Arcuri, 35, who gave him private technology lessons at her east London apartment, which had a dancing pole.
After the pair met at an ‘electrifying’ encounter in October 2011, the then married Mr Johnson, 55, used to cycle to her flat from City Hall during the afternoons for ‘meetings’.
Neither has ever denied or confirmed claims they had a sexual affair lasting four years, when he was married to barrister Marina Wheeler.
The probe by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) was launched because, as London mayor, Mr Johnson was the capital’s equivalent of a police and crime commissioner.
It examined thousands of pounds in public money given to Miss Arcuri and her businesses, along with coveted access to overseas trade trips led by Mr Johnson.
Yesterday the inquiry’s 112-page report established there was a ‘close association’ between the pair. It heard from ‘Witness A’ who said Miss Arcuri had said ‘she and Mr Johnson were in a sexual relationship’.
And investigators saw emails from a mayoral aide in 2014 saying: ‘We have to be careful with Jennifer because
‘She has him eating out of her hand’
she can be a strong ally and she has the ear of Boris.
‘She’s very good at name-dropping and has Boris eating out of her hand... so we need to help where we can as she’s prone to a whinge.’
The report said Miss Arcuri had assisted by answering written questions but, when asked if she had sex with Mr Johnson, said her ‘private life is irrelevant and personal’ – although she admitted there were ‘always whispers about me from day one’. Investigators said had there been an about sponsorship monies and attendance on trade missions thought that there was a close relationship between Mr Johnson and Miss Arcuri, and this influenced their decision-making.’ The report concluded: ‘Although Mr Johnson’s account is no more than a bare denial, there is no reason to believe that interviews under criminal caution would provide additional evidence to support a prosecution.’ Last night Miss Arcuri declined to comment, but a friend said: ‘There is a lot Jennifer could say. But those who do care to hear from her see her as the scorned seductress who got “dumped” by Boris, which is so far from the truth. And those that love Boris and see Jennifer as the enemy don’t want her to speak out. So for now, she won’t say anything.’
Mr Johnson’s Downing Street office said it welcomed ‘that this politically motivated complaint has been thrown out’, adding: ‘This was not a policing matter, and we consider this was a waste of police time.’
Last night the London Assembly said it would resume its own separate investigation into allegations of conflict of interest, which it paused at the request of the police watchdog. ‘intimate’ relationship, ‘it would have been wise for [Mr Johnson] to have declared this as a conflict of interest’. But it noted that, under the Greater London Authority’s code at the time he was under no duty to do so.
IOPC director general Michael Lockwood said: ‘While there was no evidence that Mr Johnson influenced the payment of sponsorship monies or participation in trade missions, there was evidence to suggest that those officers making decisions