In 2018, Grimes was fined £20,000 by the
Electoral Commission after it determined that there was evidence that
BeLeave had spent more than £675,000 with the Canadian political consultancy firm
AggregateIQ in coordination with the official
Brexit campaign organisation
Vote Leave in distribution targeted social media advertisements.
[21] The Commission argued that these actions violated electoral spending rules, and that Grimes and Vote Leave official David Alan Halsall had made false declarations relating to the spending. Grimes appealed, claiming that his misstatements were unintentional. He won the appeal and his fine was overturned;
[22] Vote Leave, however, withdrew its appeal and paid fines totalling £61,000.
[23] Subsequently, in May 2020, the
Metropolitan Police ended its investigation into Grimes and Halsall.
[24] In June 2021, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission apologised to Grimes in a
Sunday Telegraph interview.
