Wes Streeting insists he undertook 'full due diligence' on donations from think tank linked to notorious 'Crypto King' fraudster

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 11:50, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 11:50, 6 August 2026 Wes Streeting has insisted 'full due diligence' was carried out on donations he accepted from a think tank linked to a notorious fraudster known as the 'Crypto King'. The Defence Secretary is facing questions over £37,500 he received from the Labour for the Long Term (LLT) pressure group across 2022 and 2023. Little over a month before LLT made its first donation to Mr Streeting, the think tank's founder, David Lawrence, is reported to have accepted £500,000 from Sam Bankman-Fried. California-born Bankman-Fried was later sentenced to 25 years in prison by a US court, in March 2024, for defrauding customers and investors of his failed crypto exchange FTX. The Tories urged Mr Streeting to 'come clean about the source of his donations and any possible connections' with the infamous fraudster. The gifts received by the Defence Secretary, who at the time was Labour's shadow health secretary, were in the form of a 'donation in kind'. LLT funded the £2,500 a month salary of a policy adviser - Dr Thomas Gardiner, a GP - to be seconded to Mr Streeting's team for two days a week. The scrutiny of the donations to Mr Streeting comes after Labour has frequently attacked both the Tories and Reform UK over foreign-based donors. Wes Streeting has insisted 'full due diligence' was carried out on donations he accepted from a think tank linked to a notorious fraudster known as the 'Crypto King' Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a US court in March 2024 for defrauding customers and investors of his failed crypto exchange FTX Foreign nationals are banned from making personal donations to UK political parties, but gifts can legally be made if channeled through a UK-based firm or organisation. The Telegraph reported that LLT registered its website on June 20, 2022. Meanwhile, court documents related to the Bankman-Fried fraud case and obtained by the newspaper detail how Mr Lawrence was given a £500,000 gift by the crypto billionaire ten days later. Mr Lawrence said he donated Bankman-Fried's money to UK-based charities that work on disaster relief, prevention of cruelty to animals, and child poverty, and did not use it to fund LLT.  'I unreservedly condemn Bankman-Fried's actions and had no knowledge or suspicion of any criminal activity until it was reported in the news,' Mr Lawrence added. 'LLT had a range of donors (all UK-based) and declarations were made in accordance with Electoral Commission requirements. LLT did not receive any donations from the FTX Foundation or Mr Bankman-Fried.' Mr Lawrence was named as Labour's candidate in Basingstoke in December 2022, just months after LLT first donated to Mr Streeting's office. But he withdrew as the party's candidate the following year 'for personal reasons'. 'The FTX scandal emerged at the same time as the birth of my child which compounded the stressful circumstances,' he said. 'I raised the situation with party staff and, after discussions, decided to stand down.' Alex Burghart, the Tory shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: 'The Defence Secretary has serious questions to answer. 'He must immediately come clean about the source of his donations and any possible connections with the disgraced crook Sam Bankman-Fried. The public deserve total transparency.'  It is understood that Bankman-Fried was never mentioned in any discussions between LLT and Mr Streeting's team, while - once made aware of the connection - all donations were stopped. A spokesman for the Defence Secretary said: 'Full due diligence was carried out before accepting these donations, as is always the case. 'This included Labour for the Long Term providing a list of their funders; this list at no point included the individual in question. 'This due diligence was carried out with and by the Labour Party, in the usual way. None of this due diligence gave any indication that the money came from anywhere other than the declared sources. 'Wes has had no contact with this individual and he was never mentioned in any discussions with LLT. All donations were and are declared in the proper way, in accordance with the rules.' A Labour Party spokesman said: 'The Labour Party carried out due diligence checks ahead of these donations being received, through which no issues were identified.' In recent weeks, Labour has attacked Reform leader Nigel Farage over his receipt of a £5million gift from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne before he was elected to the House of Commons.