Dominic Raab's ex-Russian banker donor runs charity with boss of 'Kremlin front group'
Dominic Raab accepted £25,000 in donations from a former
Russian bank chief who runs a charity linked to a ‘Kremlin front group’.
It comes after Mr Raab faced quit calls over his luxury
beach holiday in Crete while Kabul fell.
Now we can reveal his local party got cash from Dmitry Leus,
who runs a charity with the UK chair of a Russian society accused of links to
Vladimir Putin.
Last night Lib Dem foreign affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran
claimed Mr Raab’s judgement “clearly cannot be trusted.”
She added: “These revelations raise yet more serious
questions about who Cabinet Ministers choose to accept large donations from,”
she said.
Mr Leus made three payments to Esher and Walton Conservative
Association for “campaigning costs”.
He had a 2004 money laundering conviction in his homeland
overturned in 2007.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr
Leus, who has given millions to UK charity through the Leus Family Foundation.
The fund’s purse-strings are held by Michael Wynne-Parker,
boss of the British arm of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society - an
organisation accused of aiming to further Russian influence in the Middle East
as US control wanes.
The IOPS’ international head is former spy chief Sergei
Stepashin.
A leaked 2008 US state department cable said IOPS was “not
independent of the [Russian] government”.
And in 2019, Dr Andrew Foxall - then a director of the
Russia Studies Centre at the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, now a civil
servant at the Ministry of Defence - said the group was “one of the clearest
cases I have seen of a Russian influence operation reaching the highest levels
of British society.”
But Mr Wynne-Parker yesterday called those claims “absolute
nonsense.”
He added: “There’s no big deal here,” he said. “It is a
historical society dealing with cultural issues since 1880.”
He added: “What is the Kremlin, but the headquarters of the
Russian government? So of course there are members of the Russian government
who are supporters of this cultural, religious organisation.”
Mr Leus’ spokesman said: “Our client has been resident in
England with his family since 2015. He has played no active part in politics
whether in Russia or in the UK.
“Throughout his career he has devoted time and resources to
philanthropic causes, in 2018 setting up the Leus Family Foundation, a
registered UK charity.
“The purpose of the Foundation is to support children and
young people, especially those challenged by poverty, illness or special
needs.”
He added: “As far as our client is concerned, Mr
Wynne-Parker has proved himself to be reliable and supportive of the Leus
Family Foundation in his capacity as a trustee.”
Mr Raab’s spokesman said: “Mr Leus had a wrongful conviction
overturned on appeal.
“Professional due diligence was conducted before accepting
the donation.
“Like all donations it was properly and transparently
declared and complies fully with the law.”
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