Jennifer Arcuri insists she had 'every right' to go on foreign trips with Boris Johnson

3 October 2019, 08:00

The American business woman who is alleged to have been given £126,000 of public money while Boris Johnson was London Mayor has spoken out for the first time.

Jennifer Arcuri has said claimed Mr Johnson bent rules to help her and her company when she lived in the UK are part of an 'orchestrated attack.'

Ms Arcuri also said she had every right to go on overseas trade missions with Mr Johnson when he was London mayor.

City Hall confirmed she joined Mr Johnson on a trade trip to Malaysia in November 2014, a trip to New York in February 2015, and a third trip to Tel Aviv in November 2015.

Over the weekend, The Sunday Times reported that Ms Arcuri confided in friends that she had been engaged in an affair with Mr Johnson during his time at City Hall.

"I'm being used as collateral. All the allegations are false," she told the Daily Mail in Los Angeles, where she now lives.

She added: "Someone has gone to great lengths to put together a massive attack and I stand by the legitimacy of my business.

"I am in fact a legitimate businesswoman."

Ms Arcuri added that it was a shame to see successful businesswomen "persecuted" and said she had support from other women who "see through these attacks".

In an interview with LBC radio this week. Mr Johnson suggested stories regarding he and Ms Arcuri had come to light because of his Government's stance on Brexit.

"There are quite a lot of well-meaning and highly intelligent people who basically think that that would be something they don't want to see, and I think that there is a concerted effort now to frustrate Brexit," he said.

Mr Johnson has been referred to the police complaints body to assess whether he should face a criminal investigation over his links with the American businesswoman.

Mr Johnson has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to his links with Ms Arcuri.