A London court convicted two men of conspiring to set fire to property linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.

The fires in May 2025 damaged the home Starmer moved out of when he became prime minister, as well as an apartment building he once owned a share of and destroyed his former Toyota SUV. Nobody was injured.

A mysterious Russian-speaking figure who went by the name "El Money" hatched the scheme and offered Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych money through Telegram to torch the properties and get video evidence for online posting. El Money's identity was never revealed and he was not charged.

Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, head of the counterterrorism team at the Metropolitan Police, said there was no evidence proving a hostile state orchestrated the fires because police never discovered El Money's motive or who he worked for. "Clearly the tasking was to intimidate and create fear for the prime minister and to attack the U.K.," Flanagan said.

Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were found guilty of conspiracy to damage property by fire. Petro Pochynok, 35, was acquitted. Lavrynovych was also convicted of two counts of arson that could have recklessly endangered life.

Lavrynovych said he needed money and admitted setting the fires, saying he wanted the bounty of 3,000 pounds ($4,000) in cryptocurrency to pay for his father's medical treatment. But he said he only followed through because he had been threatened by El Money. He said he had no idea who owned the property until after the fires and didn't intend to hurt anyone. He told police he didn't even know who Starmer was.

El Money provided detailed instructions on targets, how to mix flammable substances, and steps to avoid capture. Messages from Lavrynovych's phone showed he discussed setting fires as well as other vandalism for money, such as painting car windshields black and putting up anti-Islam posters in Muslim areas of London.

After the fires, El Money promised to pay and told Lavrynovych to send a secret message with the code word "geranium" if detained. Shortly after receiving that message, Lavrynovych was arrested. The court was told he never received any money.

Carpiuc acted as a middleman, and Pochynok allegedly was recruited to record video of the fires. The fires were set in the dead of night, and occupants awoke to smoke billowing in their front doors. Starmer's sister-in-law, living in his home, heard a loud bang and struggled to breathe as smoke filled a stairway. Her 9-year-old daughter was terrified. An occupant of the apartment building retreated to the roof after discovering hallways full of smoke.

The two convicts are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.