London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Scottish watchdog looks into Russian donation to Prince Charles charity

Scottish watchdog looks into Russian donation to Prince Charles charity

Prince’s Foundation ethics committee rejected £100,000 from Dmitry Leus, a banker who had faced money-laundering claims
Scotland’s charity regulator has announced an investigation following claims that a six-figure sum from a wealthy Russian donor was accepted by Prince Charles’s charitable foundation before being rejected by its ethics committee.

The prince wrote a letter thanking businessman and banker Dmitry Leus, 51, for his offer to the Prince’s Foundation last year, and proposing a meeting after the Covid crisis, the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times have reported.

A £100,000 donation to the foundation, which is based in Scotland, was however turned down following concerns about its provenance, it was reported.

Following the allegations, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has announced an investigation, which comes shortly after an alleged cash-for-honours controversy that has seen the prince’s close aide Michael Fawcett temporarily step down as chief executive of the foundation.

The foundation’s ethics committee declined the donation after discovering Leus had been found guilty of money laundering in Russia in 2004 before having the conviction overturned. Leus has said he was the victim of a politically motivated prosecution, it was reported.

In his letter to Leus in May last year, before the donation was rejected, Charles wrote he was “incredibly grateful” for the donation, according to reports. The prince added: “I very much look forward to seeing you when this dreadful [Covid] crisis passes, and, in the meantime, this comes with my warmest good wishes and heartfelt thanks.”

The Mail on Sunday reported that Leus believed he had given £500,000 to the Prince’s Foundation in two separate donations through third-party fixers, but had since discovered that only £100,000 was forwarded.

In a statement on its website, the OSCR said: “We have been working with the Prince’s Foundation to better understand the use of the organisation’s funds, and to gain a full understanding of the work which is being undertaken by the charity’s trustees to investigate the range of issues which have been raised.

“We have written to the trustees informing them that we will investigate these matters under the powers set out in section 28 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and will follow up any additional queries as they arise.

“It is the responsibility of all charity trustees, the people who manage and control a charity, to act at all times in the interests of the charity and comply with their legal duties in doing so.

“In particular, they must ensure that all funds are spent in achieving the charity’s purposes, and ensure that grants or donations are used in line with any conditions imposed. We will consider what, if any, further action is appropriate for us to take when we have been able to fully consider information provided to us by the charity.”

Last week Clarence House said the prince had “no knowledge” of the alleged cash-for-honours scandal after the prince and Fawcett, one of his most trusted confidants, were reported to the police over claims.

Norman Baker, a former Liberal Democrat Home Office minister, and the pressure group Republic contacted Scotland Yard and reported both Charles and Fawcett, the prince’s former royal valet, on suspicion of breaching the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.

An investigation has been launched into the allegations relating to Fawcett by an independent team on behalf of the foundation’s trustees.

A statement from the Prince’s Foundation said that Fawcett “supports the ongoing investigation and will assist it in every way”.

A Clarence House spokesperson also said: “The Prince of Wales fully supports the investigation now under way at the foundation.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×