UK investigates biggest Brexit funder Arron Banks
https://www.dw.com/en/uk-investigates-biggest-brexit-funder-arron-banks/a-46124450
UK investigates biggest Brexit funder Arron Banks
Britain's National Crime Agency on Thursday said it had launched a criminal investigation into the pro-Brexit millionaire Arron Banks over cash used to promote Britain's exit from the European Union. The UK Electoral Commission said it suspected that Banks "was not the true source" of money loaned to the Leave campaign, and that he had tried to conceal its real origins.
The commission said it had investigated financial transactions which appeared to come from companies registered in Gibraltar and the Isle of Man. Since 2000, UK laws have effectively forbidden overseas or foreign donations to registered political campaigners.
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The probe into Banks follows the revelation that he held a series of secret meetings with senior Russian embassy officials in London around the time of the referendum. Embassy staff were reported to have presented Banks with a lucrative investment opportunity in a Russian gold company, although the deal never went ahead.
Banks who is said to have been the single biggest donor for the Leave.EU campaign has previously faced questions in the UK parliament about the source of his wealth.
The commission said it had reasonable grounds to suspect that Banks was not the real source of loans that were made to a company called Better for the Country Limited, of which Banks was a director.
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Russia has denied backing the pro-Brexit effort in an effort to weaken and divide the European Union.
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