Nigel Farage's £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering fears

A £5 MILLION gift from a cryptocurrency billionaire given to Nigel Farage was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers over fears it may have been laundered money, it has emerged. The multi-million-pound undeclared gift from the Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne, which Farage said was the “equivalent of a lottery win,” is already being investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over whether the Reform leader’s failure to declare the money breached parliamentary rules. The gift has been at the centre of a donations scandal, where it emerged over the weekend that Farage had also received financial support from a cryptocurrency gambler who served time for fraud in the US, George Cottrell. In a bid to clear his name and in an attempt to shake off the deepening scandal over his finances, Farage called a by-election in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea, on Tuesday in a lengthy address. READ MORE: We’re meant to believe the real victim the man receiving a £5 million gift However, it has seemingly backfired as the Conservatives, Labour, Greens, Restore Britain and the Liberal Democrats have all announced that they would not stand candidates in the “vanity project”. If re-elected, Farage will likely still face the parliamentary investigation and any reprimand that might follow, which could be sanctions including a Commons suspension that could trigger a recall petition. In response to the revelations about the £5m donation, Farage said it was given for security reasons and spoke about an attack on his home in 2025. He claimed that he received the money before he announced he would stand in the 2024 General Election, which meant it was not taxed or declared to the parliamentary authorities, as it did not count as a political donation. Although Farage said he was not in politics at the time when he received the money, which his lawyers claim was on April 5, there have been reports claiming that financial industry sources said he received at least some of the £5m after he had announced on May 23 2024 that he was not going to stand for parliament. Although the Reform leader did not notify the parliamentary authorities about the gift, he did however become aware of notice to bankers, who were not satisfied they could trace the ultimate origin of the funds, according to The Guardian. Banks pay particular attention to the transactions involving so-called “politically exposed persons” as they are deemed to be at greater risk of bribery, corruption or other criminality. Individuals who use cryptocurrencies are also regarded as higher risk in banking terms, due to the difficulties in tracking the wealth of individuals who transfer sums in and out of cryptocurrencies. The Guardian has reported that bankers raised a suspicious activity report (SAR) over the gift on May 16 2024 with the National Crime Agency. READ MORE: See the full 2024 Clacton result as Nigel Farage forces a by-election When asked about the SAR, Farage claimed the information about the £5m had been obtained illegally by the Guardian, adding that he was not aware of any “discussions” with the NCA about transactions he had been involved with. “I have no reason to doubt the ultimate source of the money,” he said. An SAR is not proof of wrongdoing, but it is a request for the UK crime agency to examine the transaction to decide whether there are grounds to investigate it further. In a lengthy address on Tuesday, the Reform leader suggested that it was possible "Whitehall will break the law to stop Reform winning power" and claimed to have "firm" evidence that the party's computers had been hacked. In reference to the four parliamentary sleaze probes into his conduct, Farage said: "Standards are now being used as a political tool.” He defended his £5m undeclared gift, claiming the funds were to cover his security, adding: “I am the most physically and verbally attacked public figure or politician of modern times.” Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called for both the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate the support from Cottrell, who funded staff for Farage before the last General Election.