Parliament probes Farage over £5M gift from Tether backer

Nigel Farage is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner after failing to declare a gift of roughly £5 million ($6.8 million) from Christopher Harborne. The inquiry focuses on whether the payment should have been registered under House of Commons rules that require MPs to declare donations or gifts received in the year before an election within 30 days of taking office.

The complaint was lodged after the Conservative Party raised concerns that Farage, leader of Reform UK, did not record the payment when he entered Parliament. Farage has acknowledged receiving the funds and described them as a personal gift to cover security costs provided before he announced his candidacy for the 2024 general election. He argues the payment falls under a parliamentary exemption for “purely personal gifts.”

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner opened an investigation to determine whether Farage breached disclosure rules. The outcome could affect whether the gift must be entered on the parliamentary register and whether any sanction is appropriate. Officials have not published a timetable for the probe.

Christopher Harborne, who lives in Thailand, is an early investor in Tether and the Bitfinex exchange. He provided about two-thirds of Reform UK’s funding last year. Records show Harborne gave more than £10 million to Farage’s Brexit Party ahead of the 2019 campaign and paid about £28,000 for Farage to attend the 2017 U.S. presidential inauguration.

Farage has recently expanded his personal investments into cryptocurrency. Through his vehicle Thorn In The Side Ltd, he bought £2 million ($2.7 million) of shares in Stack BTC Plc, a UK-listed company that operates as a Bitcoin treasury, and now holds roughly 6.31% of the firm. Reform UK has published a draft bill proposing broad deregulation of the crypto industry and large tax cuts on digital asset transactions.

The Financial Conduct Authority will review whether any of Farage’s actions amount to market abuse and has said it will respond directly. U.S. lawmakers and regulators are also probing ties between politicians and crypto-linked interests, raising related questions about conflicts of interest and influence.

Former White House ethics adviser Richard Painter described a high-profile memecoin event tied to the Trump circle as “a dangerous conflict of interest” and “a use of public office for private gain.”

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s inquiry is ongoing.