Former Brexit party MEP in court on Russia-linked bribery charges
A former leader of Reform UK in Wales agreed to receive money to make statements 'benefiting' the Russian narrative on Ukraine while serving as an MEP, a court has been told.
Details of the allegations against Nathan Gill, who served as a member of the European parliament for Ukip and later the Brexit party from 2014 to 2020, were laid out at Westminster magistrates court on Monday.
Police stopped him at Manchester airport on 13 September 2021 after he had been 'tasked' on at least eight occasions to make specific statements in the European parliament and to news outlets concerning Ukraine, the court heard.
Reading the charges to the court, Richard Link, a Crown Prosecution Service solicitor, said Gill stood accused of accepting payment to 'make statements [which] had a particular narrative that would have been seen to benefit Russia in relation to events in Ukraine at the time'.
Link said it was alleged that Gill 'agreed to receive or accept money' in contravention of the Bribery Act.
Gill, 51, who lives in Anglesey (Ynys Môn), has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery under the Criminal Law Act 1977, and eight counts of bribery under the Bribery Act 2010. He denies the charges.
The senior district judge Paul Goldspring told Gill that he was sending the case to the Old Bailey and instructed him to appear there on 14 March.
Gill appeared via remote link alongside his solicitor. An application was granted for Gill to be released on conditional bail. He was ordered to surrender his passport, refrain from applying for any international travel documentation and to avoid contact with associated parties.
Reform UK has said Gill was never a member of the party but confirmed that he had the official status of being a supporter.
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