Vaughan Gething also rejected an offer from a senior Welsh Labour figure to help repay the cash.

A company that bankrolled Vaughan Gething’s successful bid to become Wales’ first minister was linked to a criminal investigation at the time, the BBC can reveal.

Mr Gething’s leadership campaign accepted £200,000 from a firm controlled by millionaire businessman David Neal.

A criminal investigation into suspected environmental offences by one of Mr Neal’s firms, Resources Management Limited (RML), is being carried out by Natural Resources Wales, external (NRW).

A spokesman for Welsh Labour told the BBC on Friday the issues had “previously been addressed” by Mr Gething - but later the first minister said he was “not aware of any of the details” of the criminal investigation.