Published: 01:23, 12 July 2016 | Updated: 01:52, 12 July 2016
Nigel Farage is still celebrating the historic Leave victory in the EU referendum — but the champagne has lost its sparkle for his little brother.
Commodities broker Andrew Farage has been declared bankrupt, I can disclose. The move comes after a petition was brought by debt collection company 1st Credit (Finance).
It led a line of creditors, which included HM Revenue & Customs, Bromley Council, payday and instalment loan company MyJar and debt collection company Gothia Ltd.
Nigel Farage, right, is still celebrating the historic Leave victory in the EU referendum — but the champagne has lost its sparkle for his little brother, commodities broker Andrew Farage, left
Other creditors include Royal Bank of Scotland and TFG Security Limited with whom Andrew, 50, and his wife, Wendy, have their mortgage.
‘Yes, it’s true I was declared bankrupt in May,’ Farage Minor tells me. ‘But I am taking legal action to have the bankruptcy annulled. It was all a misunderstanding and I have now paid off the debt.’
Though it is a personal bankruptcy, the financial trouble follows the commodities firm that Andrew set up in 2003 with former Ukip leader Nigel, Farage Ltd, going into liquidation, owing the taxman more than £75,000.
Nigel, 52, who worked in the City of London before becoming a politician, stepped down as a director of Farage Ltd in 2006, but remained company secretary until 2011. Andrew headed the firm in recent years and, despite being paid a total of nearly £1 million in dividends, was declared bankrupt on May 24.
The brothers were raised in the South London suburbs by their mother, Barbara, after their father, Guy, a dashing stockbroker who was also an alcoholic, left her when Andrew was three years old.
Andrew lives with his wife in Orpington, Kent, in a house they bought for £275,000 in 1999. It’s now worth around £900,000. Nigel has said his parents’ divorce blighted his first few years at school because coming from a broken home was considered shameful at that time.
The former Ukip leader idolised his absent father, whom he once described as ‘the best-dressed man in the Stock Exchange at the time’ and blamed his over-protective mother for spoiling all their fun.
I try to make every effort to NOT infringe copyrights in any commercial way & make all corrections of fact brought to my attention by an identifiable individual
regular readers of this blog will be aware that we drew attention to the scam of Isle of Man bank accounts to avoid British taxes being exploited by Nigel Farage several years ago. Farage was of little interest then but now with a very slack nes period the media are USING Farage and the4 cult he has created as a goad to other parties of relevance, to embarrass them and create stories.The media has had this story for an age but have never bothered with it as Farage is of little significance having destroyed the credibility of U*KIP imn the long term by running it as a cult – even to the extent of now managing self adulatory vi9llage hall meetings on a Dave alien basis with a bottle of wine and quofing it during his performance which is all about him and further undermines the cr4edibility of UKIP.UKIP has absolutely no one of gravitas or consequence and is anchored by a self publicist6 spiv – one strong wind and the entire organisation will risk being blown off course and drift inevitably onto the rocks to break up in internal squabbles of the mediochre as they try to take over the party.
UKIP hasn’t a single solitary individual of gr5avitas or consequence who could take over from Farage to lead HIS cult nor anyone who is of any value who couild even support him.
As I have said for a number of years UKIP has the benefit of riding a natural wave that i8s both popular and populist – the tune is excellent, the performing monkey on top of the organ is clever, charming and attracts the crowds, who like such dumbed down entertainment, but there is no organ grinder and thus the entire performance lacks leadership and vision, strategy or tactics and is constantly pilfered for bits by its own team – effectively the monkey dances well but for lack of an organ grimnder the very organ itself is increasingly being shown to lack all sorts of vital parts.
It is clear that with the rise in light weight populism and the cult of the celeb all UKIP has going for it is an increasingly ill informed and fickle claque parasitically feeding off the nuts the monkey drops.
Now that the numbers are increasing it is clear talking to the professional sephologists and more consequential journalists that UKIP may well have collapsed by the General Election, collapsed into the morass of impropriety, profligacy and petty scandals!
An amusing thought, though sad if one is a true EUroRealist patriot and remotely aware of the facts and the methods required to Leave-The-EU, we saw Robert Kilroy – Silk who having lost his career as an entertainer and commentator on TV swallowed the bait of Farage’s promise that he could become leader of UKIP (not in Farage’s gift at the time!).
Now we see Farage desperately maneuvering to make the transfer the other way to become a full time entertainer!
The one success Kilroy – Silk had that seems likely to elude Farage in the long run is that Kilroy – Silk was an MP before he made his name as an entertaining chat show host!
Beware Farage: ‘The higher up the tree the monkey climbs the more you see its rs’!
UKIP leader Nigel Farage admits mistake after setting up offshore fund to avoid tax
The UKIP leader paid a tax adviser to create a trust in the Isle of Man – which he intended to channel funds through
Nigel Farage opened an offshore trust fund in a plan to slash his tax bill, a Mirror investigation has revealed.
But he insisted he did not personally benefit from the trust fund he set up in a bid to save thousands of pounds in tax.
And the UKIP leader even claimed he ended up out of pocket after opening the scheme on the Isle of Man.
The 49-year-old paid a tax adviser to create the Farage Family Educational Trust 1654 in the tax haven – which he intended to channel funds through.
The outspoken anti-Europe politician confessed its existence during a string of meetings with our investigators.
But the former City trader said: “My financial advisers recommended I did it, to have a trust really for inheritance purposes and I took the advice and I set it up.
“It was a mistake. I was a completely unsuitable person for it. I am not blaming them it was my fault.
“It’s a vehicle that you chuck things in through your life that you don’t need and you build up a trust fund for your children or grandchildren.
“It was called an educational trust and could have been used for grandchildren’s schools fees, things like that.
“It was a mistake for three reasons. Firstly, I’m not rich enough to need one and I am never going to be.
“Secondly, frankly, the world has changed. Things that we thought were absolutely fair practice 10 years, 20 years ago, 30 years ago aren’t any more.
“Thirdly, it was a mistake because it cost me money. I sent a cheque off to set it up.”
Farage’s statements are even more extraordinary as he criticised offshore tax havens – naming the Isle of Man – in a speech in the European Parliament.
Tax expert Richard Murphy, who studied our dossier, said: “There are only two good reasons to set up an Isle of Man trust.
“One is secrecy, you don’t want someone to know what is in there. The other is tax avoidance.
“And sometimes, of course, they go together.”
Evidence: Farage fronted by Daily Mirror reporter Nick Sommerlad in Aberdeen
Newsline
Tax dodging costs Britain £35billion a year, according to HM Revenue and Customs, but Tax Research experts say it is as much as £123billion.
David Cameron backed a landmark deal at the G8 summit this week to crack down on corporate tax evasion.
The Mirror confronted Farage with financial documents as he campaigned for UKIP in Aberdeen.
These revealed he transferred his shareholding in Farage Limited after it was founded in 2003 to the Farage Family Educational Trust, based in Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man.
This meant the trust owned a 33% stake in Farage Limited, later rising to 50%.
Quizzed about the Farage Family Educational Trust, the politician insisted: “I was not a beneficiary.”
When we showed him a copy of Farage Limited accounts from 2004 indicating he owned shares in the city trading firm, he declared: “They are wrong then, aren’t they?
“I originally had the shares. I gave them away to the trust.”
Asked who set up the trust, Farage replied: “I set it up on behalf of somebody else.”
Pressed on who were the owners of the trust, Farage added: “There are none. It is closed.”
His brother Andrew, a co-director who owned the other 50% of the company, pocketed £969,000 in dividends from the firm.
Farage initially refused to confirm his sibling’s windfall. Asked if the payouts went to Andrew, he replied: “They must have done.”
And pushed on who received the £969,000, he said: “It’s a slightly unfair question because you are asking me to implicate someone else’s tax affairs in the Daily Mirror.
“It’s sensitive and the sums of money are quite big. You’re talking about nearly a million quid.
“The accountant who set up the company is prepared to speak to you.
“He will tell you on the record that I never received any dividends at all from that company ever and it all went to one individual. It’s not difficult to work out who it was.”
Farage Limited’s accountant Spencer Watson later confirmed that all £969,000 in dividends were paid to Andrew.
When we contacted Farage’s 47-year-old brother, he said: “I don’t want to make any comment. If I did, I did.
“If that’s what I earned that’s what I earned. All my money was paid and tax was paid on it in this country.
“Nigel had nothing to do with those monies. But if that’s what my accountant is saying then that’s fine.”
Brother: Andrew Farage
John Alevroyiannis
Farage himself claimed he was “unpaid during that period of time”. He added: “I packed up business completely in 2004.”
But on his Declaration of Members’ Financial Interests for the European Parliament dated January 2004, he stated that he was paid for being a director of Farage Limited.
He was also company secretary of the firm.
In every annual declaration from 2004 to 2009, Farage stated he was paid for “commodity broking”.
Farage Limited was his only company appointment posted at Companies House.
He later gave the Mirror a longer interview at the Kent home he shares with German-born wife Kirsten.
After inviting us into his kitchen, Farage was asked why he told EU officials he was paid for “commodity broking”, as he had said to our reporter he gave up business in 2004.
He replied: “Just to be careful, purely caution. I was over-declaring. I didn’t need to do it.”
He said he was unpaid as secretary and it was “an act of brotherly love”.
Companies House documents show the offshore trust remained a shareholder in Farage Limited until 2011.
The right-winger insisted it shut down in 2007 or 2008.
He said: “I sent a cheque off to set it up, out of my own taxed income, and basically just through administration fees that money disappeared.”
Accountant Mr Watson said he was not involved in setting up the Isle of Man trust for Farage.
He revealed Farage Limited lost a major client in 2011 and owed unpaid corporation tax.
Six weeks after the Eurosceptic resigned as company secretary in 2011, HMRC filed a petition to wind up the company.
Farage Limited went into a “voluntary arrangement” in 2011, one step short of going into administration.
Its debts of more than £100,000 are due to be paid off by 2017.
Reporting team: Nick Sommerlad, Andy Rossington, David Collins, Ben Rossington.
Farage on tax
Outspoken Nigel Farage last month told fellow members of the European Parliament they had a “common enemy – rich people, successful companies evading tax”.
The UKIP leader was elected as an MEP in 1999, earning £64,000 a year but he has boasted about claiming £2million in allowances.
Speaking on May 21 this year, he attacked European bureaucrats earning £100,000 a year who pay 12% tax under EU rules.
Farage said: “It is tax fraud on an absolutely massive scale. How can that be deemed to be fair?
“How can people struggling – the 16 million unemployed in the eurozone – look at these institutions, not only paying people vast sums of money but allowing them tax and pension benefits on a scale not seen else in the world?”
Farage has also called for tax cuts for the rich to tackle tax avoidance.
He said: “The biggest reason tax havens are allowed to prosper is we’ve this mindset we must try and get as much tax out of successful individuals as we possible can.
“If you do that, and if you have a complicated tax system, people will do all they can within the law to avoid paying tax.”
PA
Nigel Farage barricaded in a pub
View gallery
Why rich leg it to Isle of Man
Tax and secrecy are the biggest industries on the Isle of Man, employing around a quarter of the island’s 86,000 population.
But the Manx government is coming under new pressure to uncover its financial dealings.
There is no inheritance tax on the island and most companies pay no corporation tax.
Income tax is 20% or lower for individuals and is capped at £120,000 tax a year.
This low-tax culture has created a finance industry generating 40% of the island’s economy, where the average wage is 50% higher than the rest of the UK.
But tax campaigners, such as UK Uncut, have shifted attention to the murky side of island life, helping criminals and tax dodgers hide cash.
A crackdown on tax evasion using the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey is expected to raise £1billion in five years, says HM Revenue & Customs.
Timeline
1999 Nigel Farage elected to European Parliament
February 2003 Farage, his brother Andrew Farage and a third director set up commodity trading firm Farage Limited.
August 2003 A document filed at Companies House stated that Nigel Farage owned no shares in Farage Limited and the Farage Family Educational Trust 1654 owned 33 shares.
May 2004 Another document filed at Companies House stated that Nigel Farage owned 33 shares in Farage Limited and the Farage Family Educational Trust owned none.
October 2004 Farage was appointed company secretary of Farage Limited.
February 2006 Farage resigned as director of Farage Limited but remained as company secretary.
September 2006 Nigel Farage became leader of UKIP.
November 2009 Nigel Farage stood down as UKIP leader.
November 2010 Farage was re-elected leader of UKIP.
May 2010 Farage failed to win a seat at Westminster in the general election.
February 2011 Nigel Farage resigned as company secretary of Farage Limited.
March 2011 HM Revenue & Customs filed a petition at the High Court to wind up Farage Limited.
July 2011 Farage Limited went into a “voluntary arrangement” to pay off its debts by 2017.
‘The higher up the tree the monkey climbs the more you see its Rs…’ & so it seems with recent articles in the media re: Nigel Farage & UKIP!
It would seem from press contacts that there are many more such articles in the pipeline!
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Hi,
yet further evidence of the imutable law that ‘The higher up the tree the monkey climbs the more you see its Rs …’
Acting within his abilities as UKIP’s performing monkey there is no doubt that he has had considerable success over recent months in re-establishing membership numbers from the catastrophic low to which they fell after he took over the leadership from Roger Knapman who had pushed them up to almost 30,000 in 2004. Under Farage, due to poor leadership skills mainly they had collapsed to an apparent 8 to 10,000.
Now that they are recovering, by dint of giving away memberships and scams such as The Ashford & The Preston call centers, one has to wonder just how meaningful are the quoted membership figures – firstly due to a propensity for dishonesty on the part of UKIP but more relevantly in the light of the collapse of calliber of UKIP leadership, staff and senior members and the huge percentage of informed and competent activists who seem to have been replaced in many aspects by the dross of mankind placing the party firmly in the class of the dustbin of politics.
You will note this particular dustbin readily accepts the dross rejects of the Tory Party, whom they reward and fete with glee and are all too happy to prostitute their principles for publicity and become the dustbin into which domestic voters cast their protests against the political establishment – much as the osious and untrustworthy LibDims did formerly and their predecessors the SDP and Liberals in previous incarnations.
PUBLISHED: 22:58, 10 March 2013 | UPDATED: 11:58, 11 March 2013
Ukip leader Nigel Farage may appear to have the Midas touch when it comes to appealing to voters fed up with the main political parties, but there are questions about his business acumen.
The MEP, whose previous career was in the City as a trader of commodities such as tin and cocoa, has run into trouble with a company called Farage Ltd.
Six weeks before the Revenue lodged a High Court petition to wind up the firm, Mr Farage resigned as company secretary.
Not such a Midas touch: MEP Nigel Farage, whose previous career was in the City as a trader of commodities such as tin and cocoa, has run into trouble with a company called Farage Ltd
His son, Andrew, remains the sole director of the business, which is the subject of a ‘voluntary order’, which is one step from bankruptcy.
The company has liabilities of £135,677 and the taxman is the biggest creditor. It has also failed to file its annual return and accounts on time, which will lead to automatic financial penalties of thousands of pounds.
In his party’s recent by-election address in Eastleigh, Farage explained that UKIP wanted to ‘reduce everyone’s taxes, reintroduce free student grants, increase the size of the military and the police, put more people in prison, and enhance pensions’.
Such policies would cost the State a handsome sum and UKIP’s promises are unrealistic at the best of times — but they depend on all companies paying their taxes.
Do note:
Andrew Farage is Nigel’s brother and NOT one of his two sons – Sam & Thomas who were, as I recall, born in 1989 & 1991 respectively – sons of his first wife.
Note:
Nigel Farage worked at Drexal Burnham and Lambert LEFT 2004.11.08 (shortly before a court action which as I recall put numerous senior staffers in prison BUT check financial press!)
COMPANY ADDRESS of FARAGE Ltd. was:
57A BROADWAY, LEIGH ON SEA, ESSEX SS9 1PE
Nigel Farage’s BROTHER: Andrew Robert Guy Farage of:
249 Poverest Road, Petts Wood, Kent, BR5 1RD
Date Of Birth 08-06-1966
was Nigel Farage’s co director.
Farage Family Educational Trust-1654 is a separate entity under which NF banked a single cheque, on one occasion, for, as I recall, £1/4 Million in an off shore account in the Isle of Man!
There are several failed companies that have been wound up in Farage’s past and others still trading but seemingly not declared in his declaration of interests at EU.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
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Ukip-vs-EUkip 