The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal. The disclosure, described as “astonishing and deeply serious” by Labour party chair Anna Turley, heaps further pressure on the Reform UK leader as he tries to force a byelection in Clacton-on-Sea.
Farage announced on Tuesday that he would resign his Commons seat to fight the byelection – a move Labour and the Liberal Democrats immediately dismissed as a desperate distraction. Within hours, all the main parties said they would not contest the contest, leaving Farage facing the prospect that his only notable opponent may be the joke candidate Count Binface.
“Nigel Farage's £5m gift was reported to the NCA over money laundering concerns; Labour demands cooperation.”
But the political calculation was quickly overtaken by the more damaging revelation about the gift. According to the Guardian’s investigation, bankers flagged the payment from Thailand-based donor Christopher Harborne to the NCA on 16 May 2024 by filing a suspicious activity report (SAR). An SAR is not proof of wrongdoing but an invitation for the agency to examine the transaction further; it is not the same as a crime report.
Turley said: “This is an astonishing and deeply serious allegation. The circumstances surrounding Nigel Farage’s secret £5m ‘gift’ absolutely stink. Farage is engulfed in a major sleaze scandal and his attempts to distract won’t wash with the public. He’s desperately flailing and can’t get his story straight, and working people will conclude he’s just in it for himself.”
She demanded that Farage “publicly commit to cooperating with the National Crime Agency, fess up to the parliamentary watchdog over his finances, and face the consequences.” The Liberal Democrats’ Cabinet Office spokesperson, Lisa Smart, echoed the sentiment: “The wheels are completely coming off the Farage bandwagon. His stunt today is a desperate last ditch attempt from a man who knows the game is up.”
Farage, who was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian about the NCA report, chose instead to release a video address at 2pm announcing the byelection. In correspondence with the Guardian, Farage said he did not know about the SAR and added: “I have no reason to doubt the ultimate source of the money.” Harborne’s lawyers claimed Farage received the money on 5 April 2024, but did not provide substantive answers to detailed questions about the gift or the SAR.
The byelection was already shaping up as a farce; with all major parties boycotting, it risks becoming a referendum solely on Farage’s conduct. The question hanging over him now is whether the NCA investigation – and the parliamentary standards probe into his failure to declare the gift – will unpick the narrative he is trying to sell to voters.
