Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage have come under renewed scrutiny after a Guardian investigation revealed that multiple transactions worth millions of pounds involving senior party figures were flagged to the National Crime Agency (NCA) by banks over potential money-laundering concerns.
Farage was already under fire for a £5 million (€5.85 million) personal gift he received in 2024 from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne, which bankers referred to the NCA in May 2024.
Farage has consistently described the money as an “unconditional personal gift” intended to fund his security, rather than a political donation. Parliament’s standards commissioner is separately investigating whether his failure to declare the gift breached the MPs’ code of conduct, an inquiry that would continue regardless of any by-election result.
This issue has caused him to resign as a member of parliament, forcing a by-election in his Clacton seat that he intends to contest himself in order to be vindicated by the people. The move appeared to backfire, as the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain all said they would not field candidates, dismissing the contest as a stunt.
According to the Guardian, the NCA received several suspicious activity reports (SARs) linked to Reform UK. These include transactions involving deputy leader Richard Tice and businessman George Cottrell, an aristocrat convicted of fraud in the US and a longtime Farage associate.
One reported case involved an £80,000 (€93,600) bridging loan from Cottrell to Tice’s property company Tisun Investments in December 2024, which Tice repaid in February 2025. The Guardian reported that a think tank linked to Tice, Britain Means Business, also received a £1 million (€1.17 million) donation from Cottrell’s mothe
Reform UK has strongly rejected any wrongdoing and accused the NCA of leaking confidential banking information to the media. Deputy leader Richard Tice has written to the NCA demanding an investigation into how his private financial details reached journalists.
At the same time, Reform UK has highlighted the security risks Farage faces. The party stressed that taxpayer-funded security for Farage had been reduced in 2025, forcing donors to step in.
Farage and his team argue that he is a high-profile target, pointing to previous incidents including a milkshake attack during his 2024 Clacton campaign launch and an arson attempt at his home in early 2025, when a lit device was pushed through his letterbox while he was away. His daughter reportedly also has faced security issues, despite not being a public figure.
SARs are not evidence of wrongdoing but serve as red flags for law enforcement to investigate further. In 2024-25, banks and other regulated firms filed 866,616 such reports, and sources cautioned that any resulting NCA inquiry could take years to conclude.
Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage claims the UK establishment is trying to force him to leave the country after his bank account of 40 years was closed and seven banks refused to let him open accounts with them. https://t.co/3Ybdp22KCV
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 29, 2023
