Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz In August 2021, it was announced that the foundation was launching an investigation into the reports that middlemen took cuts for setting up dinners involving wealthy donors and King Charles, with prices as high as £100,000 and the fixers taking up to 25% of the fees. An overnight stay at the Scottish mansion
Dumfries House was also being offered. Charles gave Mahfouz his Honorary CBE at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace in November 2016, though the event was not published in the
Court Circular. The allegations led to Fawcett temporarily stepping down from his role as chief executive of the Prince's Foundation, while
Republic reported the prince and Fawcett to the police. In November 2021, Fawcett resigned from his role as chief executive of the Prince's Foundation, and the
Charity Commission launched an investigation into allegations that the donations meant for the Prince's Foundation had been instead sent to the Mahfouz Foundation. The auditing firm EY, which was hired by the charity to carry out an investigation, published a summary report in December 2021, stating that Fawcett had co-ordinated with "fixers", but there was "no evidence that trustees at the time were aware of these communications". In February 2022 the
Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the cash-for-honours allegations linked to the Prince's Foundation. On 6 September 2022, officers interviewed under caution, a man in his fifties and a man in his forties. On 31 October 2022, the Metropolitan Police passed their evidence to the
Crown Prosecution Service for deliberation.
Lord Brownlow Lord Brownlow was a trustee of the Prince's Foundation between 2013 and 2018, serving for a period as Chairman. Between 2012 and 2017, Havisham Properties, owned by Brownlow, purchased 11 properties for £1.7 million on the
Knockroon development, a site originally acquired as a piece of farmland by King Charles when he bought nearby
Dumfries House, and intended to become an eco-village. In July 2022, a spokesman for the
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator said "we can confirm that the work of Havisham Group and property transactions relating to the Knockroon development in
Ayrshire forms part of our overall investigation, work on which is ongoing." The Prince's Foundation said "Lord Brownlow was appointed CVO in recognition of his role of chair of the Prince's Foundation for Building Community."
Other donations In 2021, the foundation's chairman
Douglas Connell quit his job over claims the charity had accepted a £200,000 donation from Russian convict, Dmitry Leus, with the prince thanking the businessman in a letter and suggesting a meeting. This led to an investigation by the
Scottish Charity Regulator. Clarence House responded that Charles had "no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities and fully supports the investigation". In October 2021, additional questions were raised over contributions by Taiwanese fugitive
Bruno Wang, who donated £500,000 to the foundation. In August 2022, there were reports that
Viatcheslav Kantor, who has been described as a Russian oligarch close to
Vladimir Putin, had pledged £3 million to the Prince's Foundation prior to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine and would have paid the money over the course of 10 years, starting in 2019. Kantor was sanctioned by the UK following the invasion and was among 210 politicians and oligarchs placed by the
United States Department of the Treasury on their 'Putin list' following alleged Russian interference in the
2016 United States presidential election. As with other donations, Clarence House said "the decision to accept this money would have rested with the charity's trustees." The investigation found that the organisation was "exposed to substantial risk" as a result of some of Fawcett's conduct. ==See also==