Summary
Files suggest that donations to the Conservative Party may not have followed legal rules. Wafic Said, a foreign billionaire, had meetings and calls with Boris Johnson and was referred to as a "donor," although he is not eligible to make political donations in the UK.
Key Facts
- Wafic Said, born in Syria, had meetings and calls with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
- Official records described Said as a "donor," though he cannot legally donate to UK political parties.
- Said's wife, a British citizen, has declared £2.6 million in donations to the Conservatives over 25 years.
- Questions have been raised about whether these donations were legal.
- A Conservative Party spokesman stated that proper checks were done to confirm the donations' legality.
- Said had two phone calls with Johnson, with the 2020 call joined by the Conservative Party's then-chairman, Sir Ben Elliot.
- Logs show Said, not his wife, as being the contact with political matters, despite her being the declared donor.
- Documents reviewed were obtained by an organization called Distributed Denial of Secrets.
