As police probe ‘Brexit bad boy’ Arron Banks, did Russian money help fund his £8m Leave campaign?
Britain’s FBI to investigate claims tycoon funnelled Kremlin cash
PoLICE launched a criminal probe into Leave campaigner Arron Banks last night amid questions over whether russian money was used to influence the Brexit referendum.
The national Crime Agency announced it was investigating the insurance tycoon for ‘suspected criminal offences’ relating to £8million he donated to the Leave.EU campaign.
The Electoral Commission said it had referred the case to the agency because it had reasonable grounds to suspect Mr Banks was not the ‘true source’ of the money, the largest donation in British political history.
The watchdog also said it suspected the money had come from ‘impermissible sources’.
Mr Banks, who calls himself one of the ‘bad boys of Brexit’, has long faced claims russian money was used to bankroll his campaign.
It was alleged earlier this year that he had met with senior russians in London in the months before the referendum, including diplomat Alexander Udod, who was later expelled for spying, as well as the russian ambassador.
Mr Banks, who has always denied any claims of russian influence, yesterday insisted the allegations against him were ‘ludicrous’.
The outspoken businessman, who is on a fishing trip in Bermuda, claimed the election watchdog’s decision to refer him to the nCA was the result of ‘intense political pressure from anti-Brexit supporters’.
He said he was confident the investigation would ‘put an end’ to the issue and exonerate him – before tweeting a picture of himself on holiday with the caption: ‘Gone fishing!’
opposition MPs last night called for the process of leaving the European Union to be suspended while the allegations are investigated. Labour MP David Lammy said Brexit ‘must be put on hold until we know the extent of these crimes against our democracy’.
Downing Street insisted the country’s departure would not be halted.
Leave.EU was a separate campaign to the official Vote Leave organisation. However, Mr Banks was a prominent face in the referendum, particularly on social media and online where his videos were watched more than a million times.
He donated £1million to Ukip in 2004, and Leave.EU was linked to former Ukip leader nigel Farage. The Electoral Commission moved after concluding a review into a £2million loan by Mr Banks and his insurance companies and a £6million donation to Leave.EU he made alone.
It said that as well as suspicions he was not the true source of the cash, the investigations found parties involved in the transactions included rock Holdings Ltd, a company majorityowned by Banks, which is incorporated in the Isle of Man. Under electoral law, companies based outside the UK are not allowed to donate or loan to political campaigns.
The watchdog said it suspected Mr Banks, the Leave.EU chief executive Elizabeth Bilney and others involved in the organisation that ran it, Better for the Country, had concealed the true details of the finance.
The commission’s legal chief Bob Posner said: ‘We have reasonable grounds to suspect money given to Better for the Country came from impermissible sources and that Mr Banks and Miss Bilney, the responsible person for Leave.EU, knowingly concealed the true circumstances under which this money was provided.
‘This is significant because at least £2.9million of this money was used to fund referendum spending and donations during the regulated period of the EU referendum.’
An nCA source last night said it would ‘ follow the money’ to establish whether it had originated from a foreign source.
Miss Bilney took to the airwaves to insist that none of the money had come from russia.
She told radio 4’s The World at one: ‘We don’t have any transactions that are from russia. I am completely comfortable that we have done everything above board.’
A report by the Commons digital, culture, media and sport select commons in July called for the nCA to be brought in to verify the funding for Leave.EU was not sourced from abroad.
It said: ‘Arron Banks is believed to have donated £8.4million to the Leave campaign, but it is unclear from where he obtained that amount of money. He failed to satisfy us that his own donations had, in fact, come from sources within the UK.
‘At the same time, we have evidence of Mr Banks’s discussions with russian Embassy contacts, including the russian ambassador, over potential gold and diamond deals.’
At a hearing of the committee, Mr Banks laughed off questions from MPs about his links with the Kremlin, before strolling out of the meeting and heading straight to the Commons bar.
‘Follow the money’