Blockchain party
Reform UK, Issue 1651

JUST before his resignation from (and then his return to) Reform UK last week, Zia Yusuf unveiled the "Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill" that his party would pass if it attained power.

It will restore "the rights of every citizen to control their own money, free from arbitrary decisions made by unaccountable banks" and make it "illegal for a bank or payments provider to close your account just because you legally use crypto". The "burden will be on the bank to prove its case, not on the consumer to beg for permission". Bank now, ask questions later, in other words.

It so happens that one man who might very much like this setup is, er, Reform UK's largest benefactor. Christopher Harborne, a £10m party donor who in the past year has also paid for two trips to the US for Nigel Farage (including for Donald Trump's inauguration), has had more than his share of crypto-related banking troubles.

Stable boy
The Eye first reported Harborne's extensive links to the crypto world more than five years ago (Eye 1520). In the US, Harborne is suing the Wall Street Journal over a 2023 story concerning his involvement with so-called "stablecoin" operator Tether, which in 2021 paid $18.5m to settle fraud allegations in New York.

Harborne, who owned 13 percent of Tether, was not involved in any fraud, but his links to the company caused banking problems, with (non-UK) accounts for his other companies being closed.

In 2020, Eye 1531 also reported his extensive appearances in the FinCEN Files of leaked "suspicious activity reports" from major banks to the US Treasury. High-value crypto transactions in his name and that of his Thai alter ego, Chakrit Sakunkrit, were reported by HSBC, although there is no suggestion they were illicit.

By George!
Plenty of crypto dealings are dodgy, however, as Farage's close friend, helper, donor and convicted fraudster George Cottrell might be able to tell the party.

Cottrell is reported to have been investigated by authorities in Montenegro, where he has been pictured with Farage, for running an illegal "cryptomat" in the country's Tivat port. This was allegedly used to fund the local right-wing Europe Now movement. He dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and says local authorities refused to issue a warrant against him.

Putting the onus on a bank to show dodginess, rather than on the customer to satisfy it that the funds are clean, imposes a tall order and would be a licence for more dirty money in the banking system. Some of it would then have little trouble finding its way to political parties and their representatives.

Which of course wouldn't be of any interest to squeaky-clean Reform UK.

More top stories in the latest issue:

TOP BRASS NECK
A consultancy linked to one of those behind the Strategic Defence Review has used its involvement to, er, pitch for more work from arms firms.

BOLLOM'S UP
Criticism of Israel's Gaza campaign hasn't stopped air marshal Sir Simon Bollom joining Elbit, the Israeli arms firm central to its military machine.

WILD CLAIMS
As the government plans benefit cuts for disabled people to make claimants work, figures obtained by the Eye show that 510,000 recipients already do.

SLOW COACH
A leading DWP work coach scheme for the disabled is one of the poorest performers among a list of the government's outsourced contracts.

FREEPORT CIRCUMVENTION
Asked about freeports security, local government minister Alex Norris, perhaps channelling former Post Office bosses, claimed oversight was "robust". Uh oh!

KANE & TABLES
Aviation and maritime minister Mike Kane loves a fancy dinner – especially when it's being paid for by a lobby group related to his ministerial brief.

HOUSING NEWS
Complaints by social housing tenants about shabby repairs to their homes have risen by a staggering 474 percent over the past five years.