nChain’s former CEO funded the UK Conservative Party without the board’s consent, suspected of violating company law

Christen Ager-Hanssen, former CEO of nChain, is suspected of violating the UK Companies Act by instructing the crypto company to donate £70,000 to the UK Conservative Party without shareholder authorization. Ager-Hanssen agreed to the donation in July 2023 when he discussed the development of the "True Blue" app with senior Conservative Party officials. In June of the same year, he sent an email to the UK Conservative Party about the app that day after meeting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a summer party. According to an exposed presentation, the True Blue app could bring the party about £160 million ($201 million) a year through various sources of income, including donations and targeted sales of branded merchandise to members of the UK Conservative Party. The UK Conservative Party said the app is now dead. According to The Guardian, nChain learned of the donation after firing Ager-Hanssen in September 2023. A representative for nChain said that “the donation was not approved by the board or shareholders.” The Guardian noted that such behavior may violate Section 366 of the UK Companies Act, which prohibits companies from “making donations or incurring political expenditures unless the transaction or expenditure is authorized by a resolution of the company’s members.” Ager-Hanssen is also reportedly known for using espionage to gather information. In Mallorca, he allegedly hid microphones to collect information from Calvin Ayre’s assistants. He also helped a Swedish banking giant fight fraud charges by sneaking into the other party’s legal meetings and wearing microphones. He also hired a former Mossad agent to pretend to be an Argentine businessman to discredit cryptocurrency lawyer Kyle Roch. Kyle Roch, who was originally the plaintiff’s representative, subsequently withdrew from the class action lawsuit against Tether, Tron and Bitfinnex in 2022. (Protos)