The insurance magnate is accused of lying about the source of £8million of funding he gave the campaign group Leave.EU.
Leave.EU, which was founded by Mr Banks and Nigel Farage, is also under investigation by the National Crime Agency, the UK's equivalent of the FBI.
The Ukip-supporting businessman calls himself and his allies the "Bad Boys of Brexit".
The Electoral Commission said today it was referring Mr Banks, Leave.EU and a company called Better for the Country which helped run the Brexit campaign to the NCA.
The elections watchdog said there were question marks over the source of £8million of the campaign group's funding – including £2.9million which was spent directly on the referendum.
There are "reasonable grounds to suspect" that Mr Banks did not provide the £8million of loans from his own funds, as he has claimed.
The Commission passed on the file to the FCA because it suspects that criminal offences may have taken place.
Mr Banks has previously faced questions over his links to Russia – he has repeatedly met with Vladimir Putin's ambassador and was offered a business deal over six goldmines in the country.
He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the Brexit referendum, and insists all his fortune comes from his insurance businesses such as Go Skippy.
Bob Posner of the Electoral Commission said today: "We have reasonable grounds to suspect money given to Better for the Country came from impermissible sources.
"This is significant because at least £2.9m of this money was used to fund referendum spending and donations during the regulated period of the EU referendum.
“Our investigation has unveiled evidence that suggests criminal offences have been committed which fall beyond the remit of the Commission.
"This is why we have handed our evidence to the NCA to allow them to investigate and take any appropriate law enforcement action."
The NCA said in a statement: "While electoral law offences would not routinely fall within the NCA’s remit, the nature of the necessary inquiries and the potential for offences to have been committed other than under electoral law lead us to consider an NCA investigation appropriate in this instance."
A spokesman for Mr Banks said: "We’re pleased it has been referred because we can finally now put to bed these ludicrous allegations."
Source: Read Full Article