A U.S tech entrepreneur, who is the focus of accusations of wrongdoing involving British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has revealed the two did have an affair when Johnson was still mayor of London.
Jennifer Arcuri said that Johnson took advantage of his position as mayor of London to give her a favorable treatment, reports said. Johnson was spared from a criminal probe after a police monitoring panel found no convincing proof that he influenced the payment of thousands of pounds of government money to the businesswoman, or secured her participation in foreign trade junkets that Johnson led.
Asked if the affair happened while the prime minister was with his then-wife Marina Wheeler, the 35-year old Arcuri said: "I think that goes without saying. It is pretty much out there, but I'm not going to talk about it," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.
Johnson was mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. He became prime minister in 2019. Downing Street did not immediately comment on the issue.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, Arcuri reveals how Boris gave her 'avalanches of passion'; how the prominent public figure's aides conspired to keep them apart; and broke down into tears when Arcuri remembers how furious and disappointed Johnson was to find out she was pregnant by the man she would later tie the knot with.
The businesswoman agreed to a number of television interviews after the accusations became known, disclosing that she and Johnson had relished a very "special relationship," although she has repeatedly denied whether they actually had had an affair.
City Hall conducted an inquiry into Johnson's behavior after the Independent Office for Police Conduct was dissolved in May. The IOPC stated that it would have been sensible to reveal his relationship with Arcuri and establish proof that the two may have engaged in an intimate relationship.
Arcuri has previously revealed that after she and Johnson met in 2011, the then-mayor visited her in her home office in Shoreditch on 10 occasions and delivered a free speech at four events hosted by Arcuri's startup firm, Ino Tech, as per a report by the Evening Standard.
Addressing the controversy in May, a representative for Johnson said they welcome the fact that "this politically-motivated complaint has been thrown out. Such vexatious accusations of impropriety were untrue and baseless," Business Insider quoted the representative as saying.
Boris's departure from City Hall in 2016 occurred simultaneously with Jennifer's decision to end their relationship.
