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Since the British voted for the exit of the European Union in 2016, questions have been raised about Arron Banks, a pugnacious entrepreneur with diverse international contacts, who has funded a campaign for withdrawal and which is considered the largest political donor of British political history. .
On Thursday, the police were investigating the fact that Banks is breaking the law by promoting the departure of Britain, known as Brexit.
The electoral commission, the body overseeing the electoral law, said that it had referred the case to the National Crime Agency, the police tasked with fighting organized crime because it had problems. reasonable grounds to think "that a number of criminal offenses may have been committed".
Mr. Banks, sometimes described as the "Brexit Sponsor", denied any reprehensible act and predicts that the investigation "would finally put an end to the ridiculous allegations made against me".
Some of the questions that revolve around Mr. Banks relate to his ties to Russia, including what has been discussed in several meetings – one of which was a "six-hour luncheon "with the country's ambassador to Britain, Alexander V. Yakovenko The statement issued by the Electoral Commission did not specifically mention a Russian link.
Instead, he focused on suspicions that some Brexit campaign loans originated from outside Britain – making them illegal – from a company whose M Banks was the majority shareholder.
The commission said it was suspect that Mr. Banks was "not the real source" of a total of eight million pounds of loans made to Better for the Country, an organization that had led the campaign "Leave. EU ".
This raised the question of who was behind the loans. David Lammy, a Labor legislator opposed to leaving the European Union, said the allegations were so serious that "Brexit must be suspended until we know the extent of these crimes against our democracy" .
This is very unlikely to happen, but the investigation comes at a sensitive moment in the Brexit negotiations and in the context of increasing calls for a referendum on the terms of any agreement that the Prime Minister Theresa May's government could negotiate.
May hopes to reach an agreement on Brexit in the coming weeks. But if she succeeds, she may have difficulty getting support in Parliament, and the debate has inflamed her Conservative Party.
Mr. Banks was one of the co-founders of "Leave.EU.", One of the most prominent groups that advocated Britain to leave the bloc during the pre-referendum campaign.
The Electoral Commission believes that one of the loans to "Leave.EU" could come from Rock Holdings, a company incorporated in the Isle of Mann, which is not part of the UK but constitutes an autonomous possession of the British Crown. It is recognized as an international financial services center and a low tax jurisdiction.
"As it is not a UK entity and does not operate here, Rock Holdings can not legally make any donations or be part of any loan to" Leave.EU, "said the commission in a statement. . declaration.
She indicated that she suspected Mr. Banks and Elizabeth Bilney, one of his associates, of "concealing the true details of these financial transactions".
Ms. Bilney denied any wrongdoing in an interview with the BBC.
In a statement, the National Crime Agency stated that its investigation "concerns alleged violations of the electoral law referred to in this reference, as well as all related offenses".
"While electoral law offenses are not systematically part of the NAC's mandate, the nature of the investigations required and the possibility that offenses have been committed other than by electoral law lead us to consider a NPC. appropriate investigation in this case, "the statement added.
Apparently undisturbed, Banks posted a photo of himself fishing on Twitter, claiming he was in Bermuda.
He also stated in a statement that there was "no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the companies I own".
He described the allegations as political motivations, saying the electoral commission was "under intense political pressure from its anti-Brexit supporters".
Duncan Hames, director of politics at Transparency International UK, a group that campaigns against corruption, said: "The fact that the National Crime Agency is taking care of this investigation clearly shows how serious these allegations are.
"We have previously called for a thorough and thorough investigation into the source of these funds and the steps to be taken in the event of a breach of the law," Hames added. "All criminal activity must be pursued and people held responsible."
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