Farage and Tice sue NCA over alleged leaks of financial information

Richard Tice has said he and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage are suing the National Crime Agency (NCA) over the alleged leaking of confidential financial information.

The Boston and Skegness MP and Reform deputy leader told Talk TV they believed the NCA had committed “multiple criminal offences” and said they would be seeking an apology and damages.

He accused them of leaking “individual bank statements, bank transfers, details of conversations with bank managers from different banks”.

Last month Tice wrote to the agency to ask if they would investigate whether they were responsible for the leaking of private financial information to the media.

It followed reports that payments made to his company Britain Means Business by the mother of the convicted fraudster George Cottrell were flagged to the NCA as part of its suspicious activity reports (SARs) programme, which alerts law enforcement to potential instances of money laundering.

SARs are not crime reports.

Tice said at the time he only became aware of it when contacted by the Guardian newspaper, which broke the story.

The NCA has been carrying out an internal investigation but Tice told Talk TV it was “playing for time and we’ve said we’re done with it”.

A Reform UK spokesperson said claims had been filed at the High Court. BBC News has not seen the detail of the claims.

A spokesperson for the NCA said: “Following complaints brought by Richard Tice MP and Nigel Farage, the NCA’s Professional Standards Unit is conducting an investigation. That work is ongoing. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

As first reported by the Telegraph, Tice’s company Tisun Investment received a loan of £80,000 from Cottrell in late 2024.

That same year, Britain Means Business received a £1m donation from Cotrell’s mother.

Data from the Electoral Commission shows that Britain Means Business donated £500,000 to Reform UK in the same month.

These payments were flagged to the NCA as part of the SARs programme.

Cottrell’s relationship with Reform has been under scrutiny in recent months after the Sunday Times reported he had supplied Farage with support including security and social media staff in the year before he became an MP.

Under parliamentary rules, newly elected MPs have to declare gifts or benefits received in the 12 months before their election that relate to their “parliamentary or political activities”.

However, there is an exemption for gifts and benefits that are “purely personal”.

Reform has argued that Farage did not breach the guidelines by not declaring the support from Cottrell because the support was provided in a “purely personal capacity”.