Former Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill has been ordered to pay more than £22,500 after admitting bribes linked to pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament.
Confiscation order at the Old Bailey
Gill, 53, of Anglesey, North Wales, has been given six months to sell his rental property and pay the money into Government coffers, or face a further nine months in prison.
The figure set by Judge Richard Marks KC at the Old Bailey on Thursday was £22,592.41, described by the court as ill-gotten gains. Gill was not required to attend the confiscation hearing in central London.
He is already serving 10 and a half years in jail after pleading guilty to eight counts of bribery on dates between December 6 2018 and July 18 2019.
Property sale needed for payment
Clare Ashcroft, representing Gill, told the court he would need time to sell his rental property in order to make the payment.
She said: “The property needs to be sold. Notice has been given to the tenants. Until these tenants vacate, that property cannot be put on the market.”
It is understood the rental property and Gill’s family home are both in Anglesey, Wales.
Background to the case
Gill became the first British politician to be sentenced under the Bribery Act of 2010 in November last year.
At the time of the offences, he was a member of the European Parliament, having originally been elected for the UK Independence Party (Ukip).
His activities included making pro-Russian statements about events in Ukraine in the European Parliament and in opinion pieces to news outlets, such as 112 Ukraine.
The court heard that the architect of the bribes was Oleg Voloshyn, 44, a former pro-Russian Ukrainian MP, who with his wife was connected to 112 Ukraine.
The television channel was owned by wealthy pro-Russian Ukrainian Victor Medvedchuk, 71, who was a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the ultimate source of requests and money that Gill received.
How the offences were uncovered
Gill’s crimes were exposed after he was stopped at Manchester airport on September 13 2021 as he attempted to travel to Russia.
His mobile phone was examined and messages were found between him and Voloshyn.
WhatsApp messages between them included references to “promised x-mas gifts”, “postcards” and “5K” which was a reference to payments, he said.
Gill led Reform UK’s 2021 Welsh Parliament election campaign but is no longer a member of the party.
Sentencing last November, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Gill that he had allowed money to corrupt his “moral compass” and that amounted to “a grave betrayal of the trust vested in you by the electorate”.
She told him: “Your misconduct has ramifications far beyond personal honour, which is now irretrievably damaged. It erodes public confidence in democracy itself.”
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