Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to appear in court charged with rape

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2024

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Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, will appear in court this morning charged with rape and other historical sex offences.

The 61-year-old, who is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP, was suspended by the party following his arrest last month.

In a statement at the time, the DUP said: “The Party Chairman has received a letter from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature and indicating that he is stepping down as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect.

“In accordance with the Party Rules, the Party Officers have suspended Mr Donaldson from membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process.”

In his resignation letter, he said he would be strenuously contesting the charges.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had been arrested at his home in County Down the previous morning and taken to Antrim Police Station for questioning.

In a short statement, the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed that a 61-year-old man had been charged with “non-recent sexual offences” and that a 57-year-old woman, arrested at the same time, had been charged with “aiding and abetting” in connection with the offences.

Both are due to appear before Newry Magistrates Court in County Down.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who has been MP for Lagan Valley for 27 years, was knighted for his services to politics in 2016.

He helped broker the DUP’s £1bn confidence and supply deal with Theresa May’s minority Tory government, when the party held the balance of power at Westminster between 2017 and 2019.

More recently, he had compromised and led his party back into the power-sharing government at Stormont, which it had boycotted for two years over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Politics

SEC lawsuit puts Shima Capital’s future in question as wind-down message surfaces

Published

3 hours ago

December 17, 2025

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SEC lawsuit puts Shima Capital’s future in question as wind-down message surfaces

Screenshots of an internal email outlining plans to wind down Shima Capital have surfaced online, days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued the crypto venture firm and its founder over allegations of investor fraud.

On Nov. 25, the SEC charged Shima Capital Management LLC and its founder, Yida Gao, with making false and misleading statements while raising almost $170 million from investors, the agency announced on Dec. 3.

The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Gao inflated his investment track record in marketing materials used to raise capital for Shima Capital Fund I between 2021 and 2023.

According to the SEC, Gao claimed one prior investment had delivered a 90x return, when the actual return was closer to 2.8x. The regulator also alleged that when discrepancies in the pitch deck were about to be reported publicly, Gao told investors the issues were the result of clerical errors.

SEC alleges $1.9 million undisclosed gain

Separately, the SEC claimed that Gao raised about $11.9 million through a special purpose vehicle tied to BitClout tokens, telling investors that they would be protected by discounted token purchases. While Gao did acquire tokens at a discount, the SEC said he sold them to the SPV at a higher price without disclosing that he personally retained about $1.9 million in profits.

In a Wednesday post on X, crypto journalist Kate Irwin shared screenshots of an email allegedly sent by Gao to portfolio founders. In the screenshots, Gao purportedly said he would step down as managing director of Shima Capital and that the fund would undergo an “orderly wind-down.”

*Gao’s alleged email to portfolio companies. Source:* *Kate Irwin*

The screenshots purportedly show Gao stating that the SEC and Department of Justice actions are related to his personal conduct, not that of Shima Capital’s portfolio companies, and claiming that no fines have been imposed on the company.

The screenshots also show that independent advisers from FTI Consulting and FTI Capital Management would oversee the wind-down process and monetization of investments, while Shima’s finance team would remain in place. Gao allegedly said he would remain involved with portfolio support “as permitted,” but without management control.

Cointelegraph could not independently verify the email. We reached out to Shima Capital and some of the fund’s portfolio companies for confirmation, but had not received responses at the time of publication.

Shima Capital launched with $200 million debut fund

In 2022, Shima Capital announced the launch of its first venture fund, Shima Capital Fund I, raising $200 million to back early-stage blockchain startups. Founded in 2021 by Gao, the firm said the fund received backing from a range of prominent investors, including Dragonfly Capital, Animoca Brands, OKX Blockdream Capital, Republic and Andrew Yang.