[ad_1]
The National Crime Agency has opened an investigation into Arron Banks and other individuals and groups related to the campaign for authorizing criminal offenses alleged in the Brexit referendum, she said.
She intervened after the electoral commission had declared that she had referred the case to the NCA, suspected of having "committed a number of criminal offenses" and having reasonable grounds to suspect that Banks, the insurance millionaire who sponsored the unofficial holiday campaign, was not the "true source" of £ 8 million in loans.
According to a statement by the Electoral Commission, his inquiry had been about £ 2 million that would have been lent to Better for the Country, a company with which he had financed the holiday campaign, and an additional £ 6 million would have been given to the organization, on behalf of Leave.EU. , by Banks.
Of this money, 2.9 million pounds were used to finance the referendum expenses on behalf of Leave.EU.
In its statement, the electoral commission said: "Due to multiple alleged infractions, some of which do not fall within the jurisdiction of the commission, the commission returned the case and presented its evidence to the Agency national crime ".
The NCA confirmed that it had initiated an investigation related to "alleged violations of the election law referred to in this reference and related offenses".
In a statement, he said: "Although the offenses under the electoral law are not systematically within the jurisdiction of the NCA, the nature of the investigations required and the possibility that offenses were committed otherwise than under the electoral law leads us to consider that an NCA investigation is appropriate in this context. example."
Banks, who was once a prominent Ukip banker, denied any wrongdoing. Andy Wigmore, a Leave.EU spokesperson, said: "That's quite predictable. This will finally bring a head to all these crazy allegations made about us. We are not worried. "
Those referred to the NCA are banks, better for the country, countries on leave, Elizabeth Bilney – a long-time partner of banks – and so-called "other corporations and associates".
Inquiry centers on suspicion Banks "were not the real source" of the £ 8 million loan to Better for the Country, and these loans involved funds from an "unqualified or illicit company" established on the Isle of Man.
According to the statement of the Electoral Commission, the investigation would seek to determine whether Banks, Bilney and others involved in Better for the Country, Leave.EU and associated companies "were concealing the true details of these financial transactions ".
Bob Posner, Director of Political Finance and Regulation of the Electoral Commission, said: "We have reasonable grounds to believe that money donated to Better for the Country came from unlawful sources and that Mr. Banks and Ms. Bilney, the person in charge of Leave.EU, knowingly concealed the real circumstances in which this money had been provided.
"This is important because at least 2.9 million pounds of this money were used to finance the expenses and referendum donations during the regulated period of the European referendum.
"Our investigation revealed evidence suggesting that criminal offenses exceeded the jurisdiction of the commission. That is why we have forwarded our evidence to the NCA to enable them to conduct an investigation and take any appropriate action in the area of law enforcement. It is now a criminal investigation.
"The financial transactions we surveyed include companies incorporated in Gibraltar and on the Isle of Man. These jurisdictions are not within the reach of the Electoral Commission for the purpose of obtaining information that may be used in criminal investigations or proceedings. "
