A former British MEP has pleaded guilty to bribery in favor of Russia. This is reported by UNN with reference to the agency Reuters, the publication New York Times (NYT).
Details
Former leader of the Reform UK party in Wales, Nathan Gill, appeared before the Old Bailey court in London and pleaded guilty to eight counts related to receiving money between December 2018 and July 2019.
According to the investigation, he agreed to receive money that "constituted an improper performance ... as an elected official."
52-year-old Gill confessed to receiving bribes eight times for following instructions from Ukrainian citizen Oleg Voloshyn, who was an official in the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych and at the time was a member of a pro-Russian political party
Judge Bobby Cheema-Grubb called the case serious and noted that Gill admitted receiving money for questions and speeches in the European Parliament in support of pro-Russian parties in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Prosecutor Mark Haywood said that the charges are based on WhatsApp messages seized from Gill's phone after it was confiscated by police in 2021. According to him, the correspondence indicated Gill's agreement to receive money for certain activities, including submitting parliamentary inquiries, contacting high-ranking officials, organizing events, and making speeches.
A statement from the prosecution says that in March 2019, Mr. Gill carried out Mr. Voloshyn's instructions to find more politicians to appear on the "112 Ukraine" TV channel in support of negotiations between Medvedchuk and then-Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
The court released Gill on bail until sentencing in November. However, Judge Cheema-Grubb warned him that he could face a "significant prison sentence."