The former Welsh leader of Nigel Farage’s right-wing party Reform UK has admitted to taking bribes in exchange for making pro-Russia statements while a member of the European Parliament.
Nathan Gill on Friday pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between December 2018 and July 2019 and is expected to face jail time, according to his barrister.
Gill, who was an MEP in Brussels from July 2014 until January 2020 for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and then the Brexit Party, admitted to taking money in exchange for pro-Russia statements from Oleg Voloshyn, an ex-Ukrainian MP sanctioned by the U.S. for working with the Kremlin. Gill left Reform UK, the successor to the Brexit Party, in May 2021 after failing to win a seat in the Welsh parliament.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood told the court that WhatsApp messages between Gill and Voloshyn detailed an agreement for the then-MEP to pose questions in the parliament, make contact with senior European Commission officials, make statements and organize events.
According to the charges, Gill also arranged for MEPs to speak to 112 Ukraine, a TV channel shut down in 2021 as part of sanctions on its owner, pro-Russia businessman Taras Kozak.
Welsh Labour demanded that Farage explain what he knew about Gill’s case. Reform UK said: “This is pure desperation from a Welsh Labour Party that is being rejected by the public and floundering in the polls. This sort of gutter politics has no place in Wales.”
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