Updated

Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 9

Met Police Probe £37,500 Alleged Overseas Donation to Jenrick's 2024 Leadership Bid

Updated

Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 9

Met Police Probe £37,500 Alleged Overseas Donation to Jenrick's 2024 Leadership Bid

Q: Did a top UK politician's campaign accept funds from a US businessman convicted of wire fraud?

Yes — that is the allegation under active investigation, but it has not been proven that Robert Jenrick knowingly accepted such money. London’s Metropolitan Police are investigating a £100,000 donation made to Jenrick’s 2024 Conservative leadership campaign through UK-registered Spott Fitness Ltd. The key question is whether £37,500 of that sum actually originated from Gary Klopfenstein, a US businessman, via his US company Innovyz USA. If so, it could breach UK electoral law, which bars donations from impermissible foreign sources. Klopfenstein did plead guilty in the United States in July 2024 to wire fraud linked to an investment scheme, and sentencing is due in August 2026. The allegation about the donation’s source emerged after businessman Phillip Ullmann told the Electoral Commission that part of the Spott Fitness money came from Klopfenstein. Jenrick denies wrongdoing and says his campaign followed the rules, that the donation was checked as permissible because it came from a UK company, and that he had no knowledge of Klopfenstein’s involvement at the time. He has described the claims as false and politically motivated. So the accurate answer is that investigators are examining whether Jenrick’s campaign received funds that ultimately came from a US businessman later convicted of wire fraud. The claim is serious and specific, but it remains an allegation while the police inquiry continues.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 9

A formal Metropolitan Police investigation is now under way after the Electoral Commission referred allegations that £37,500 tied to Robert Jenrick's 2024 Conservative leadership campaign came from overseas.
The claim centers on £100,000 donated by Spott Fitness, with investigators examining whether part of that money actually originated from US company Innovyz, which would breach UK rules banning foreign political donations.
Jenrick said the allegations are "entirely false" and that he has had no contact with police; his spokesman said the campaign checked the donation's permissibility and that Jenrick had no dealings with Innovyz founder Gary Klopfenstein.
The case reaches back to Jenrick's 2024 bid to replace Rishi Sunak, in which he lost to Kemi Badenoch, and now lands as he sits as a Reform MP after defecting from the Conservatives earlier this year.