Nigel Farage’s £4m Donor Ben Delo Pardoned by Trump Despite Being Called “Leader of a Criminal Enterprise” by US Prosecutors

Ben Delo, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency billionaire and one of the largest donors to Nigel Farage’s Reform party, has a criminal conviction that paints a starkly different picture from his own claims of innocence. US prosecutors described Delo as a “leader of a criminal enterprise” in court documents related to his 2022 conviction for willfully failing to implement anti-money laundering (AML) controls on BitMEX, a major crypto derivatives platform he co-founded.

Delo pled guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act, a cornerstone law aimed at preventing financial crime, after BitMEX allowed US customers to trade despite regulatory prohibitions. The platform also allegedly permitted Iranians to trade, potentially breaching US sanctions. Prosecutors highlighted that Delo “thumbed his nose at the law” and called for a six-month house arrest sentence, underscoring the gravity of his offenses.

Despite this, Delo received a light sentence of 30 months probation and a $10 million fine. In a controversial move in March 2025, former President Donald Trump pardoned Delo along with other crypto executives, a pattern of pardons that has raised serious questions about the administration’s approach to accountability and the rule of law.

Following his pardon, Delo dismissed his conviction as a “blip” and a “non-crime,” claiming BitMEX was unfairly targeted and that the Bank Secrecy Act was an “obscure, antiquated law.” This claim ignores the fact that the law has been in place since 1970 and is central to combating financial crime in the US.

Delo’s role at BitMEX was substantial—he owned 30% of the company and reportedly made hundreds of millions of dollars from its operations. Prosecutors noted that even after BitMEX announced it was withdrawing from the US market in 2015, lax controls allowed Americans to continue trading, resulting in over $200 million in suspicious transactions.

While Delo’s lawyers argued he took “numerous steps” to restrict US users and cooperated with the Department of Justice, the official court records reveal a pattern of deliberate disregard for legal requirements. This case exemplifies the broader issue of wealthy political donors with questionable legal histories influencing UK politics, raising urgent questions about transparency and accountability.

As Reform prepares for upcoming elections, the party’s reliance on a donor with such a fraught legal background highlights the dangerous intersection of money, politics, and impunity. Trump’s pardon of Delo is yet another example of how loyalty and wealth can override justice in the current political climate, undermining democratic norms and the rule of law.