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He allegedly accepted staffing, security, and housing from convicted criminal George Cottrell

Nigel Farage has been referred to Parliament’s standards watchdog after allegedly failing to declare financial benefits he received from a convicted criminal who offered to launder drug money. The Reform UK leader is accused of breaching parliamentary rules over claims he accepted staffing, security, and housing from George Cottrell in the year before he became an MP.

Mr Farage now faces an ethics watchdog probe over the alleged financial support from the baby-faced British aristocrat - nicknamed 'Posh George' - who avoided 20 years in prison in the US after striking a plea deal. Reform UK denied that its leader breached the code of conduct.

Cottrell - known in the US federal prison system as inmate 46832-424 - was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2017 after admitting to one count of wire fraud, having initially been indicted on 21 offences. Using the alias “Bill”, he presented himself as someone prepared to move criminal proceeds, including drug money, through the dark web, reports the Mirror.

In his plea agreement with Arizona Judge Diane Humetewa, Cottrell admitted he had worked with another individual known as “Banker” to advertise money-laundering services on a black-market website accessible via the TOR network.

He admitted communicating online with people seeking to clean the proceeds of crime and explaining ways large sums of cash could be moved out of the United States without triggering reporting requirements.

He also discussed how criminal funds could be disguised as legitimate business income for tax purposes. But, in his plea agreement, he said he and Banker intended to “retain the money”.

He told the court: "On March 27, 2014, I communicated online with individuals seeking to launder proceeds of criminal activity via an encrypted group instant messaging platform known as Cryptocat.

"I explained various ways criminal proceeds could be laundered - for example, methods to transfer large amounts of cash out of the United States without triggering reporting requirements, and ways to disguise the proceeds as legitimate business income for tax purposes.

"I falsely claimed that I would launder the criminal proceeds through my bank accounts for a fee. Rather than launder any of the money, though, Banker and I intended to retain the money."