Latest news with #campaignfinancing
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Crypto donations could entirely corrupt British politics. Labour must act quickly
Our party finance rules are riddled with loopholes. Shell companies. Unincorporated associations. Anonymous donations routed through digital campaigns between elections. All legal. All ripe for abuse. And now, a new gateway has opened: cryptocurrency. When someone buys a cryptocurrency their identity is anonymous, but the transaction itself is recorded on the blockchain and is publicly visible. So far we know that this anonymity has allowed cryptocurrencies to be used to fund everything from sanctions evasion to election interference. A recent report from the Centre for Information Resilience revealed that A7A5, a new 'digital rouble', has already been linked to sanctions evasions by Russians. The report also found that Ilan Shor, a fugitive oligarch who has been accused of being involved with Russian-backed attempts to meddle in Moldovan elections, had allegedly used the currency to funnel at least $39m (£29m) into the bank accounts of thousands of Moldovans in exchange for their votes. In Britain, Reform UK has already declared that it plans to accept crypto donations. This is the new frontier of campaign financing. Cryptocurrencies give people plenty of ways to hide, obscuring who is funding political parties and what they might want in return. Online 'mixers' can blend an individual's cryptocurrency with others, making it practically impossible to trace the origin of individual coins. People can also donate using multiple crypto wallets with different addresses, splitting large donations into smaller amounts that bypass the reporting thresholds for political donations. This is a system custom-built for hostile actors and is wide open to abuse, especially by those who launder foreign money into the bank accounts of UK citizens before passing it to British political parties. And Russia is ready to move. It has spent about £230m subverting democracies in at least 24 countries since 2014. This week, ministers will table a mini white paper that will prepare the ground for a new elections bill. It contains some good ideas. The government will introduce tougher 'know your donor' rules. But it is impossible to really know your donor if they have given money in crypto. The better solution would be banning crypto donations outright (Ireland and Brazil have already done so). The government should also ban unchecked, unverified and unlimited companies or associations – which aren't required to file accounts – from donating cash. Shadowy groups known as 'unincorporated associations' have channelled more than £60m into British politics in the past two decades, but do not have to file accounts or explain where their money comes from. It is all too easy to earn money abroad and route it into the bank account of a UK citizen, from where it is then forwarded to a political party. This creates huge vulnerabilities. In 2022, the New York Times reported concerns that money transferred from a Russian bank account into the bank account of a UK citizen might have made its way onward into the coffers of the Conservative party. Ehud Sheleg, the UK citizen, said that his donation to the party was unconnected to a gift from his Russian father-in-law, and the Electoral Commission later said they had found no grounds to investigate the donation. When I reported it to the National Crime Agency, it told me there was no offence because ultimately a UK citizen wrote the cheque to the Tories. There is no evidence that Sheleg was doing anything wrong. But this mechanism could be exploited by bad actors. For that reason, only profits or income earned in the UK should be allowed to fund political parties. The National Crime Agency and Electoral Commission need more resources if they are to investigate these problems effectively. And they need to be able to impose much larger fines. Labour pledged in its manifesto to strengthen the rules on political donations. The foreign secretary, David Lammy, has worked with clarity to tackle the dirty money that infects global politics – and to shut down London's role as the world's favourite laundromat. Ministers are waking up to the threat of dark money, and a new elections bill is good news for those who want to clean up politics. But only if we close the loopholes. Believe me, the Kremlin is watching. Liam Byrne is the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Police raid headquarters of French far-right National Rally party
Police have raided the headquarters of France's far-right National Rally (RN) and seized documents as part of an investigation into alleged illegal campaign financing that was denounced by the party's leader, Jordan Bardella, as 'a harassment campaign'. The raid came a day after EU financial prosecutors in Brussels said they had launched a separate investigation into the alleged misuse of €4.3m by the former far-right Identity & Democracy (ID) group in the European parliament, which included the RN. It also represented a fresh setback for the party after its figurehead, Marine Le Pen, was convicted in March of embezzling EU funds and barred from running for office for five years, effectively scuppering her hopes of running in 2027 presidential elections. Bardella, 29, whom Le Pen has asked to prepare to campaign in her place, said on social media on Wednesday: 'RN headquarters – including the offices of its leaders – are being searched by about 20 police officers from the financial brigade.' The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Police and investigating magistrates had seized 'emails, documents and accounting' relating to 'the last regional, presidential, parliamentary and European elections', he said, calling the operation 'a serious attack on pluralism and democratic choice'. The Paris prosecutor's office said the raid was part of an investigation launched in July last year that sought to establish whether campaigns in 2022 and 2024 were funded through 'illegal loans from individuals to the party or to RN candidates'. The investigation would also look into allegations the party had included inflated or fake invoices in its claims for the state to reimburse its campaign finances, the prosecutor's office said. The offices and homes of several company executives were also searched. The investigation involved 'acts that may constitute fraud, loans exceeding campaign finance regulations, aggravated laundering of fraud, forgery and the use of forged documents between 2020 and 2024', the prosecutors said in a statement. The EU prosecutors' investigation follows a European parliament report alleging that the ID group, which included MEPs from RN, Italy's Lega, Germany's AfD and other far-right parties, had improperly spent more than €4m of EU money. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Most of the funds benefited companies linked to a former Le Pen adviser and his wife, a consortium of European newspapers including Le Monde has reported. ID was disbanded last year and has been succeeded by a new group, Patriots for Europe. Le Pen has appealed against her conviction and has said she hopes it will be overturned so she can make her fourth run for the Elysée in two years' time. Polls suggest either she or Bardella would be strongly placed to win.
France 24
09-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
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Arab News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
French police raid far-right party HQ over campaign financing
PARIS: The leader of France's National Rally (RN) said police seized documents from the far-right party's headquarters Wednesday, a raid prosecutors said was linked to a French probe into alleged illegal campaign financing. It is the latest legal trouble for the party of Marine Le Pen, the longtime standard bearer of the French far right, which has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. The 56-year-old politician, who has three times run for president, suffered a stunning blow in March when a French court convicted her and other party officials over an EU parliament fake jobs scam. The ruling, which Le Pen has appealed, banned her from standing for office for five years, effectively scuppering her ambition of running in France's 2027 presidential elections. Le Pen has asked her top lieutenant, 29-year-old party leader and European Parliament member Jordan Bardella, to prepare to campaign in her place. 'RN headquarters — including the offices of its leaders — are being searched by around 20 police officers from the financial brigade,' Bardella said on X on Wednesday morning. Police accompanied by two investigating magistrates had seized 'all emails, documents and accounting' records of the party, he added. They included 'all files related to the last regional, presidential, parliamentary and European (election) campaigns,' Bardella said, denouncing what he called 'a new harassment operation.' The Paris prosecutor's office said police had raided the party's offices as part of an investigation launched in July last year into alleged illegal campaign financing for the 2022 presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as the European Parliament elections last year. The investigation seeks to 'determine whether these campaigns were notably funded through illegal loans from individuals to the party or RN candidates,' the prosecutor's office added. It said it would also look into allegations the party had included inflated or fake invoices in its claims for the state to reimburse campaign expenses. Police also searched the offices and homes of several company bosses on Wednesday as part of the investigation, which covers the period from January 2020 to July 2024, it said. Under French law, a person can give a maximum of 7,500 euros ($8,800) per year to a political party. Loans are allowed, but only within certain conditions and limits, according to a national commission in charge of scrutinizing campaign financing called the CNCCFP. They should not be 'a disguised donation,' for example. By the end of 2023, the RN had racked up 20 million euros in loans from individuals, with the earliest dating back to 2007, the CNCCFP says. In a separate case, the European Union's prosecutor said Tuesday it has launched a formal investigation into a defunct far-right group, which included France's RN, over the alleged misuse of European Parliament funds. According to the reports by a consortium of European media, most of the allegedly misused funds benefited companies belonging to a former adviser to Le Pen and his wife. Le Pen has challenged her May conviction at the Paris Appeals Court, which has said it will examine the case to allow a decision to be reached in the summer of 2026. This means she could still stand in the 2027 elections — if the verdict is reversed or amended. She also sought an urgent ruling from the European Court for Human Rights to lift her ban on standing for public office. The court threw out the request on Wednesday, stating it saw no 'imminent risk of irreparable harm to a right' protected by the European human rights convention.
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
French Police Raid National Rally Offices Over Campaign Finances
The police raided the headquarters of France's far-right National Rally party on Wednesday as part of an investigation into its campaign finances, the Paris prosecutor's office said. No one has been charged in the investigation, which was opened in July 2024 and aims to determine whether the nationalist, anti-immigrant party ran afoul of campaign financing rules, the prosecutor's office said. Jordan Bardella, the National Rally's president, accused the authorities of harassment and called the raid a threat to 'pluralism and democratic change.' About 20 armed officers from France's financial brigade took part in the raid, which was led by two investigative judges, Mr. Bardella said. 'All the emails, documents and accounting records of the leading opposition party have been seized, even though at this stage we do not know exactly what the allegations are,' Mr. Bardella said on X. 'Never before has an opposition party been so relentlessly attacked under the Fifth Republic.' The National Rally is the single largest opposition party in France's lower house of Parliament since snap elections last year, and its longtime leader, Marine Le Pen, has unsuccessfully faced off against President Emmanuel Macron in the past two presidential elections. The Paris prosecutor's office said that the investigation was opened following 'several alerts' from an institutional source about the party's financing of its 2022 presidential and legislative campaigns, as well as its 2024 campaign for the European Parliament elections. It was not immediately clear what that source was. According to the prosecutor's office, the investigation aims to determine whether those campaigns were financed through illegal loans from private individuals to the party or its candidates, or through inflated or fake invoicing for campaign expenses — which, under French law, are partly reimbursed by the French state. French law authorizes private loans to political parties, but under strict conditions.
