Jennifer Arcuri: Boris Johnson faces uproar over alleged links to businesswoman who got public money

London CNN — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing pressure over his alleged relationship with the American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri during the time he served as the Mayor of London. The Sunday Times alleged Arcuri was given preferential treatment when it came to joining the missions, despite her business “not meeting the eligibility criteria for any of the three Johnson trade missions she attended in the space of just a year.” The Oversight Committee of the Greater London Authority has asked Johnson to disclose details and a timeline of all contact with Arcuri during his 2008-16 mayoral term. Johnson himself first dodged the topic, then suggested in a BBC interview everything was done “entirely in the proper way.” The issue was even discussed in Parliament on Wednesday, when lawmakers forced an official from the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to come into the debating chamber and answer questions about his agencies role in awarding Arcuri’s company their most recent public money. Warman said the officials scored the application highly and “decided the other aspects more than outweighed that particular individual criteria.” The company’s registered address in central London is a building that houses offices for rent, as well as “virtual offices,” a service that makes it possible for businesses to have a physical presence in London without any actual space or desks.