The £5m gift given to Nigel Farage by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers concerned it may have involved laundered money, according to a Guardian investigation. The disclosure adds significant new weight to a story that has already produced a formal Parliamentary Standards investigation and, this week, Farage’s decision to resign as MP for Clacton and trigger a byelection.
The timing of the Guardian’s report
Farage was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian’s questions. He gave a video address at 2pm announcing he would force the Clacton byelection. That move, widely seen as an attempt to shift attention away from the deepening scrutiny of his finances, appeared to backfire within hours, as the Conservatives, Labour, Restore Britain and the Liberal Democrats all confirmed they would not stand candidates in a contest they variously described as a “media circus” and a “vanity project.” Even if Farage is re-elected, he remains likely to face the ongoing parliamentary standards investigation and any reprimand that follows from it.
What a suspicious activity report actually is
It is important to be precise about what this disclosure does and does not mean. The Guardian understands bankers filed the suspicious activity report with the NCA on 16 May 2024. An SAR is not proof of wrongdoing. It is a mechanism that invites the agency to examine a transaction and decide whether grounds exist for further investigation, distinct from an actual crime report. Banks pay particular attention to transactions involving “politically exposed persons,” a defined category that carries a higher deemed risk of bribery or corruption, and Harborne’s involvement in cryptocurrency added further risk weighting in banking terms, since it is harder to trace the origin of wealth that has moved in and out of crypto assets. The NCA has not confirmed the existence of any SAR, stating it does not comment on such reports, in line with confidentiality obligations under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The disputed timeline
The Guardian’s reporting raises a specific new question about the sequence of events. According to financial industry sources, Farage received at least part of the £5m after 23 May 2024, the date on which he publicly announced he would not stand in the general election, saying it was “not the right time for me.” The remainder of the money was reportedly received after that announcement and shortly before he reversed his position and confirmed on 3 June 2024 that he would stand for Clacton.
Harborne’s lawyers, in correspondence with the Guardian, said Farage received the money on 5 April 2024, a date that conflicts with the financial industry sources’ account. The lawyers did not substantively respond to detailed questions about the gift or the suspicious activity report, instead requesting copies of any documents the Guardian held.
What Farage and Harborne have said
Farage told the Guardian he was unaware of any suspicious activity report and said: “I have no reason to doubt the ultimate source of the money.” He also repeated a previous, unsubstantiated claim that information underlying the story had been “illegally obtained” by the newspaper.
Farage has consistently maintained he was not in active politics at the time of the gift, and that this meant he had no obligation to disclose it. However, on 1 May 2024, weeks before he received at least part of the money according to the reported timeline, he became what is formally termed a “person of significant control” for Reform’s corporate entity, meaning he held effective ownership and control of the party. He had also served as the party’s honorary president from March 2021 until June 2024.
Harborne told the Telegraph in April that the gift was intended to support Farage’s “security not just now, but for the rest of his life,” adding that at the time he made the gift, “I never thought he would go back into politics.”
The Ashcroft book complication
A further complication comes from a new book, The Farage Factor by Michael Ashcroft, which states that by mid-May 2024, before Farage’s public announcement that he would not stand, Reform had already recruited a GB News producer to help promote the event at which Farage intended to announce his candidacy, with the Hippodrome in Leicester Square reportedly under consideration as a venue. That account sits awkwardly alongside Farage’s public statement on 23 May that standing was not something he was considering at the time.
A pattern of shifting explanations
Farage has offered a series of differing explanations for the money over recent months, initially describing it as intended to cover his personal security costs, later characterising it as a reward for his years of Brexit campaigning, and, when pressed further by reporters, saying it was “nobody’s business” what he did with the money and that he could spend it “on Ferraris” if he wanted to. Piers Morgan has previously described that specific line as evidence Farage’s position had become untenable, declaring the Reform leader “dead in the water” over his inability to give a consistent account of the gift.
The NCA’s capacity to investigate
The National Crime Agency receives several hundred thousand suspicious activity reports each year, and the relatively small team responsible for reviewing them has previously struggled to keep pace with the volume, meaning not every SAR receives the same depth of scrutiny. The Guardian understands the NCA has doubled the size of the team handling these reports in recent years, replaced the IT systems used to store and share them with law enforcement partners, and introduced new guidelines intended to improve the quality of reporting.
Why this matters now
The revelation lands at a moment when Farage’s political position is already under significant strain. He faces a formal Parliamentary Standards investigation into the Harborne gift itself, a separate investigation into undeclared support from convicted criminal George Cottrell, a self-triggered byelection that every other major party has declined to contest, and now a suspicious activity report filed with the National Crime Agency over the origin of the money at the centre of the entire story.
None of this constitutes proof of wrongdoing on Farage’s part, and both he and Harborne continue to deny any impropriety. But the cumulative effect, an SAR from concerned bankers, a disputed timeline of when the money actually arrived relative to his public statements about standing for Parliament, a book suggesting preparations for his candidacy were already under way before he claimed otherwise, and a pattern of shifting public explanations for the gift itself, is a story that shows no sign of resolving in Farage’s favour as the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s investigation continues.
4 responses to “Bankers flagged Farage’s £5m crypto billionaire gift to National Crime Agency, report claims”
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But if you look at comments on Reform pages, lots of people see him as an honest man who would never do any wrong and would be the next prime minister and save Britain.
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Its absolutely shameful that he can get away with behaving as he does. He’s meant to represent the people but all he does is exploit and make a mockery of our parliamentary processes. How does he get away with it??? He’s a conman, conning the country in plain sight!!! Providing excuses for racists to create chaos . For goodness sake. Get shut of the wide mouthed frog. Once and for all
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Why has he not been charged with something before now? The excuse for a man should be sat next to Gill!!
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