Jennifer Arcuri, the US businesswoman facing questions about her friendship with Boris Johnson, has reportedly denied allegations that the PM helped her to receive business grants and a visa.
In some of her first public comments since the story hit the headlines, the tech entrepreneur, who lives in Los Angeles, was quoted in an article by the Daily Mail saying she was the victim of an “orchestrated attack” by the media.
“All the allegations are false,” she said, saying grants of £126,000 of public money she received for her company Innotech had been awarded appropriately. Arcuri, 34, was paid about £11,500 of that money while Johnson was mayor of London.
The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that the entrepreneur also beat nearly 2,000 applicants to gain one of 200 sought-after tier 1 entrepreneur visas on the government’s Sirius programme after Johnson helped to promote her company by giving keynote speeches at her events.
Arcuri went on three overseas trade missions led by Johnson, after having initially been turned down for two of them.
According to the Daily Mail, which said it had tracked her down to a salon run by one of her friends near her home in LA, Arcuri claimed she was “being used as collateral” and that she had “every right” to accompany Johnson on the trade missions.
When questioned about claims that she had an affair with Johnson, Arcuri reportedly avoided giving an answer. “I had every right to be on those trips as a legitimate businesswoman and stand by everything that happened because these allegations are completely false,” the paper quotes her as saying.
“This is an orchestrated attack on me, absolutely. I stand by the legitimacy of my business. I am in fact a legitimate businesswoman.”
It also reported Arcuri saying it was “such a shame to see successful businesswomen, or just businesswomen in general, be persecuted … One of the things I’ve been surprised with is how much support there has been for me, despite these allegations, because women see through these attacks and they know the narrative.”
Despite the fact that Arcuri and her husband, Matthew Hickey, moved to the US last year, one of her companies, Hacker House, won a £100,000 cyber-skills grant this year intended to foster UK talent. It emerged last week that the company had hastily set up a new British office after the government launched a review into its eligibility for the grant.
Johnson has repeatedly dodged questions on whether he and Arcuri had a sexual relationship.
Several inquiries have been opened since the allegations surfaced. The Greater London Authority has asked the Independent Office for Police Conduct to assess whether Johnson, as a former police commissioner, should face a criminal investigation for misconduct in public office.
