UKIP caught by Sunday Times investigation into hiding donations

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UKIP caught by Sunday Times investigation into hiding donations

By Mark Pack | Sun 4th April 2010 - 3:22 pm

Follow @markpack

The Sunday Times reports:

Stuart Agnew, a UKIP MEP, and Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the party’s leader, have told undercover reporters how a real donor’s name could be kept secret by passing tens of thousands of pounds through intermediaries. If carried out, one or more of the suggested methods could have been illegal.

Our disclosures will embarrass UKIP and Pearson, who also told the undercover reporter that some UKIP members were “neanderthals” and described Agnew, 60, as “one of our only really sane MEPs”.

The report goes on to detail how UKIP explored a range of ways for a donor to hide their identity, including passing the money to another person who then makes a donation, funnelling cash via an unincorporated associations or using a combination of a loan and clause in a will.

Asked whether he was sure such techniques could work, UKIP’s leader, Lord Pearson, said:

Yes, we did it in the European elections [in 2009]. We passed on £80,000 from one person in effect … and that caused no difficulty at all.

You can read the full report here.

Read more by Mark Pack or more about lord pearson, stuart agnew or ukip.
This entry was posted in Election law.

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One Trackback

By Anonymous on Mon 5th April 2010 at 1:16 pm.

[…] ongoing blog coverage: UKIP caught by Sunday Times investigation into hiding donations Rupert's Read: UKIP Eastern Region MEP caught with his financial pants down Cllr Cliff Roper: UKIP […]

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