LONDON: The chairman of the Prince Charles’s charitable foundation resigned on Wednesday after an investigation was launched into its initial acceptance of cash from a Russian banker previously convicted of money laundering.

The Scottish Charity Regulator launched the probe following reports that Charles wrote a letter thanking Dmitry Leus for the money and suggesting they could meet after the pandemic.

Chairman Douglas Connell said he was to blame “if it appears that serious misconduct may have taken place”.

“I am both shocked and dismayed by newspaper reports that rogue activity of various kinds may have taken place within and outside the Prince’s Foundation,” he said in a statement.

“I believe that the correct course of action is for the chair to accept that responsibility and to stand down from the role.”

The foundation’s ethics committee declined the donation after discovering Leus had been convicted of money laundering in Russia in 2004.

He had the conviction overturned and claims he was the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.