Boris Johnson was paid 240,000 pounds after a meeting with dictator Nicolás Maduro, per leaked documents

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received, according to documents leaked by The Guardian, a 240,000 pound (roughly $325,000 in 2025 dollars) payment from fund manager Maarten Petermann weeks after meeting Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in Caracas in February 2024. The 45-minute meeting generated controversy and criticism not only because of the subsequent payment, but also because Johnson notified then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron of the visit without warning him that Petermann would also participate in the meeting.

At the time, Johnson interrupted a family vacation in the Dominican Republic to fly surprisingly to Caracas. From a private plane, he called Cameron and told him that he was going to meet with Maduro, whom he had called a tyrant in the past. What Johnson did not mention to his political rival was that he would be going to the Venezuelan capital accompanied by Petermann, an investor with whom he had already signed a contract in September 2023. That deal provided for payments of 200,000 pounds per meeting, up to a maximum of 1.6 million pounds a year, plus 35,000 pounds a month to fund a think tank Johnson was considering in the U.K., according to a leaked contract.

A few weeks after the meeting, Johnson's office issued an invoice in Petermann's name for 240,000 pounds, which was paid in May 2024. While there is no confirmation that the money directly corresponds to the meeting with Maduro, the coincidence and the omission to Cameron about Petermann's involvement fueled suspicions about his true motives.

The British Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) opened an investigation into the matter. Its chairman, Eric Pickles, called Johnson's answers "evasive" and warned that there was "a reasonable concern" that he had breached transparency rules by denying a contractual relationship with Merlyn Advisors, even though he had already signed the agreement.

The leak also revealed that, in August 2022 and still as prime minister, Johnson had a private lunch lasting more than two hours with Petermann at Chequers, the official country residence. That meeting was never recorded in mandatory transparency reports.

The recent revelations again place Johnson at the center of a new political scandal and reinforce doubts about the use of his international contacts for financial benefits after his quick exit from Downing Street.