Australian company named in furore over Farage donations

London: An Australian payments company has been named as a conduit for a secret $1.9 million donation to help British right-wing populist Nigel Farage, intensifying a furore over his financial disclosures as he faces a byelection within weeks.

The company, Oneify, has been identified as the digital finance platform used to move the money to a fundraising vehicle set up to help Farage and his party, Reform UK, fight the UK election two years ago.

Farage has denied any wrongdoing with his donations and has dared his critics to take the argument to the ballot box, announcing his resignation from parliament on Tuesday and declaring he would contest the resulting byelection in his seat of Clacton.

The latest reports centre on money transferred by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of one of Reform’s strongest supporters, George Cottrell, a wealthy crypto investor who was convicted of fraud in the US in 2017 and spent eight months in prison.

The payment was worth £1 million ($1.9 million) and came from an account at Oneify, according to an investigation by The Guardian.

Separately, The Times revealed that the Metropolitan Police had launched a criminal investigation into at least £500,000 of donations from Fiona Cottrell to Reform.

The police confirmed the investigation in a statement that said inquiries began in early 2025 into money transferred ahead of the 2024 general election.

“Early investigative advice has been sought from the Crown Prosecution Service and two people have so far been interviewed under caution. No arrests have been made,” the police said.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Oneify, a low-profile company that was set up in 2016 and based in Wollongong. It offers cryptocurrency, foreign exchange and other services.

“From Wollongong to Westminster, Brisbane to Barcelona, Manilla to Madrid, and everywhere in between, we’re united by one goal: helping our clients expand globally,” it says on its website.

The use of cryptocurrency for political donations has become a pressing issue in Britain after close media scrutiny of the investors helping Farage, including George Cottrell and Christopher Harborne, who is based in Thailand and is estimated to be worth billions of pounds.

Britain’s parliamentary commissioner for standards has been investigating a £5 million gift to Farage from Harborne, although the inquiry is expected to be suspended during the byelection.

The commissioner was also considering an inquiry into help that Farage received from George Cottrell, which included providing security and some accommodation at a townhouse near Buckingham Palace. This could be resumed if Farage returns to parliament after the byelection, which is likely to be held in August.

Fiona Cottrell has declined to comment to British publishers reporting on her assistance to Reform. She is the daughter of Rupert Watson, a baron, and was named in the media as a girlfriend of King Charles when he was Prince of Wales.

A former model, she married businessman Mark Cottrell, and the couple raised their son, George, on the island of Mustique in the Caribbean.

The Guardian reported that the £1 million was transferred in June 2024, weeks before the general election, to a fundraising vehicle called Britain Means Business.

One of the directors of Britain Means Business, Richard Tice, was running as a Reform candidate at the election and is now an MP. The Guardian said he transferred £500,000 in two tranches to Reform UK on 10 and 12 June. It also said bankers questioned the source of the £1 million with Tice, in part because of the way it was routed through Oneify.

Tice has blamed the National Crime Agency for the reports into the payments, claiming its staff illegally leaked highly confidential banking information about his companies to The Guardian.

“I demand a full investigation and those responsible at the NCA for multiple criminal offences must face the full force of law,” he said.

The latest revelations have heightened debate about the priority given to cryptocurrency regulation in the Reform UK policy platform. The party has proposed a Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill that could ease rules for the financial sector.

Farage accused the media of making false claims against him.

“Let me be absolutely clear, I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all,” he said on Tuesday, when he announced his resignation and his wish to contest a by-election.

“I have not misused public money, and you know, for the first two years of being an MP, my personal MP expenses are zero.”

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