A Ukrainian man has admitted that he set fire to a car once owned by Keir Starmer for £3,000, telling a court he was threatened by a “powerful” Russian-speaking man who goes by the rather on-the-nose pseudonym El Money.
Roman Lavrynovych, 22, is accused alongside Stanislav Carpiuc and Petro Pochynok of arson attacks on a vehicle and two houses in north London linked to the prime minister. The Toyota Rav4 - which once carried the man who would eventually run the country - was burnt out in Kentish Town in the early hours of 8 May last year. Because apparently nothing says “I have a political grievance” like setting fire to a used SUV.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Lavrynovych said he initially refused El Money’s offer of £3,000 in cryptocurrency because he was scared of getting caught by police. Sensible. But El Money became threatening, telling Lavrynovych - who was living with his grandmother in Sydenham - that he had “better do this job” because he knew where he lived and it “might be dangerous” for him. Nothing like a bit of casual intimidation to sweeten a business deal.
“I felt that there is a threat towards myself and my family. My fear was genuine,” Lavrynovych told jurors. When asked by his defence counsel, James Scobie KC, what made him conclude El Money meant business, he replied: “He told me he is a high-profile person. Maybe he had some connections, maybe he is connected to politics. He said he is like a person with a high status. He just told me he is a person in power.”
The deal was straightforward: set fire to the vehicle, film it, and provide proof. But El Money was not impressed. “He told me that I didn’t do the job properly because it was not on the news and he wanted it broadcasted,” Lavrynovych said. Because nothing says professionalism like demanding your arson job gets press coverage.
Lavrynovych said he asked one of his co-accused, Carpiuc, for help, but Carpiuc suggested Pochynok instead. The construction worker said he was having financial difficulties at the time, and payment was “essential” to his decision. He had been instructed to break a side window and throw in a bottle of flammable liquid, but fearing the sound of breaking glass might alert residents, he opted to pour liquid on the front of the Toyota and set it alight using paper and his lighter. A man of improvisation, if not principle.
Lavrynovych also admitted to other jobs for El Money because he was in desperate need of funds. He sprayed graffiti on an Islamic community centre in south London in December 2024 for the cost of materials and £20. When asked if it was “offensive, racist, unpleasant graffiti,” he replied: “Yes, something like that.” In April 2025, El Money asked him to put up posters in Southall connecting mosques with crime, but Lavrynovych didn’t go through with it because he thought it was “propaganda” and he “might be caught.”
Up until the car job, there were no issues if he declined tasks, Lavrynovych said. But when it came to setting the car alight, El Money talked in a “different way” and changed tactics. Lavrynovych, Pochynok, 35, and Carpiuc, 27, all from London, deny conspiracy to damage property by fire between 1 April and 13 May last year. Lavrynovych also denies damaging two properties by fire with intent to endanger life or being reckless as to whether life was endangered on 11 and 12 May last year. The trial continues, presumably without any arson-related press coverage.