Jenrick donor inquiry raises new questions over wife’s knowledge of U.S.-linked payments

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Jenrick donor inquiry expands

Highlights

Innovyz USA transferred £37,500 to The Spott Fitness in July 2024, comprising a significant part of the £100,000 donations to Robert Jenrick’s leadership campaign.
An email seen by the Financial Times suggests Michal Berkner, Jenrick’s wife, was notified of U.S.-linked transfers in late 2024, contradicting her claim of learning about them only in February 2025.
The Metropolitan Police is investigating The Spott’s donations after the Electoral Commission referred evidence of potential offences in January, heightening political and legal risks for Jenrick and Reform UK.

Email claim sharpens donation scrutiny

As reported by the Financial Times, an email seen by the newspaper states that Michal Berkner was told in late 2024 about transfers from Innovyz USA to The Spott Fitness, the company that made the largest donations to Jenrick’s leadership bid.

Berkner, a corporate lawyer and Jenrick’s wife, has said through lawyers that she is "not aware" of the relevant donation to her husband’s campaign until February 2025, when she says she stopped working for Centrovalli, The Spott’s parent company, because of a potential conflict of interest. But the email from a lawyer for Innovyz recalls an earlier conversation in which Berkner allegedly said that any money coming from Innovyz to UK non-profits or political campaigns was "all Gary", a reference to U.S. entrepreneur Gary Klopfenstein.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating The Spott’s donations after claims that £37,500 of the £100,000 given to Jenrick’s campaign came from Innovyz USA. The police has not named any individual suspects. The Electoral Commission initially closed inquiries in December 2024 without finding wrongdoing, but later reopened the case and referred evidence of potential offences to police in January.

Jenrick denies wrongdoing and says he complied with electoral law, while Berkner’s representatives stress her professional standing and duties of client confidentiality. Asked about the email, spokespeople for Berkner and Jenrick do not dispute that she received it, but do not answer whether she took steps in late 2024 to establish whether Innovyz funds formed part of the donations to her husband’s campaign.

Political and legal risks grow

Questions over the donations are intensifying because of the financial and corporate background of the donor structure. Public scrutiny of The Spott began in 2024 because of its debts and lack of employees, while Centrovalli employed Berkner on a commercial dispute involving Innovyz when she was still a partner at McDermott Will & Emery.

The case also draws in figures around Jenrick’s campaign. In July 2024, Phillip Ullmann emailed Klopfenstein asking him to go "50/50" on a donation to Jenrick, and payment data seen by the Financial Times shows Innovyz transferred £37,500 to The Spott that month. Jenrick has repeatedly said he does not know of Klopfenstein’s involvement and has described the donations as legal and valid.

Klopfenstein had already pleaded guilty in the U.S. in July 2024 to wire fraud in a separate case involving non-existent jet fuel notes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Financial Times has also previously reported that political consultant Sam Armstrong attended a 2023 Westminster meeting with Klopfenstein and Ullmann to discuss the future of the Conservative Party, before later becoming head of press for Jenrick’s leadership campaign.

The affair now carries broader political consequences for Reform UK, where Jenrick serves as Treasury spokesperson, and for political fundraising oversight in Britain. Labour chair Anna Turley says the latest findings cast further doubt on the account given by Jenrick and that he needs to answer all questions about his campaign donations.

In our earlier article on the FCA’s tougher non-financial misconduct regime, we explained how UK financial firms are ramping up monitoring, training and pre-emptive dismissals ahead of expanded conduct rules taking effect on September 1. We also noted that the changes widen manager accountability for investigating and reporting bullying, harassment and other behaviour breaches, with implications for regulatory references and even social media-related assessments.

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