Documents filed at Companies House also reveal that the anti-EU lobby group, which Nigel Farage fronted during the 2016 EU referendum campaign, has failed to pay tens of thousands in fines owed to the Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) for data breaches. law. But the Banks decision to write off £7,051,987 in loans to Leave.EU will apparently cause the most controversy after years of speculation over the source of its EU referendum campaign funding. In 2018 a referral was made by the Electoral Commission to the National Crime Agency claiming that the Banks were not the “true source” of the loan and that the money came “from unauthorized sources”. The NCA found no evidence of criminality, concluding that Banks took out a loan from an Isle of Man company he owned, which he was legally entitled to do. The banks had denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the allegations surrounding his funding as “ridiculous”. Critics said yesterday that the apparent £7m write-off could be seen by banks as a reasonable price for the disruption caused by Brexit. Chris Bryant, chairman of the House of Commons standards committee, criticized Arron Banks for the “real damage” caused by Brexit. Photo: Vickie Flores/EPA Chris Bryant, chairman of the House of Commons standards committee, said: “I wonder when we will wake up to the real damage that has been done [by Banks] in this country. The £7m he has out of pocket is frankly the least.” Another Labor MP, Ben Bradshaw, said: “£7 million is a very small fine for the long-term damage the banks have caused to Britain.” Bradshaw, who previously called on the government to investigate more widely the potential role of “dark money” in the EU referendum, added: “The whole sorry saga shows the importance of strong independent regulation of political donations and campaign finance. at a time when the Tory government is hell-bent on humiliating the Electoral Commission.” Last month the government released details of an “election power grab” that many said would undermine the commission’s independence. Banks was the biggest supporter of the Brexit campaign. In the spring of 2016, he gave Leave.EU £6 million in loans – a huge sum for a British political campaign – which was reportedly due to be repaid by the end of 2017. Companies House documents confirm that Banks, a former Ukip sponsor, never applied for such large debts, instead appearing to have opted to write them off in April this year, by which time the figure had risen to more than £7m due to shifting borrowing and interest percentages. The documents also show that Leave.EU has not paid £52,000 in fines owed to the ICO. Following an investigation into the misuse of personal data by political campaigns, Leave.EU was fined £45,000 for sending more than a million emails to its subscribers containing marketing for an insurance company owned by Banks. It was also fined £15,000 for the illegal use of Eldon Insurance customer details to send almost 300,000 political marketing messages, ahead of the referendum. Leave.EU said at the time it was a “politically motivated attack” because of its involvement in Brexit. On Saturday, an ICO spokesman said: “We will continue to monitor the progress of the insolvency and support the liquidator with its inquiries if necessary.” In 2018, when it was announced that the NCA was investigating allegations that he concealed the source of donations used to fund Leave.EU, Banks said: “There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by the companies I own. I am a UK tax payer and have never received foreign donations.’ The leading Brexiteer added that he was “confident that a full and honest inquiry will finally put an end to the ridiculous allegations leveled against me and my colleagues”. Banks has been approached for comment on the Leave.EU liquidation and whether it has written off the £7m. According to a Companies House filing, Leave.EU had £4,233 worth of assets available at the time of liquidation.
