Nathan Gill, 52, last month admitted eight counts of bribery between December 6, 2018 and July 18, 2019.
Nigel Farage has described a former senior figure in his party who has been convicted of taking pro-Russian bribes as a “bad apple”.
Nathan Gill, who led Reform UK in Wales in 2021, admitted taking bribes to make statements in favour of Vladimir Putin’s Russia while he was a Member of the European Parliament.
His activities were said to include making pro-Russian statements about events in Ukraine in the European Parliament and in opinion pieces to news outlets.
Speaking at a campaign visit in Caerphilly on Friday, Mr Farage said he was “shocked” by Mr Gill’s admissions.
He said: “Any political party can find in their midst all sorts of terrible people.
“Gill is particularly shocking because I knew him as a devout Christian, very clean-living, honest person.
“So I’m deeply shocked. But you know, that is a different time.
“I’m the only one [in Reform] that really knew him, going back a long way.”
Gill, 52, pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of bribery between December 6, 2018 and July 18, 2019.
He was leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021.
Mr Farage added: “Every single political party has a bad apple, in fact, many families finish up with a bad apple, these things happen.
“It’s not to downplay the severity of it… but it’s historic.
“You can never, ever guarantee 100% that everyone you meet in your life, you shake hands with in the pub, is a good person.
“What you can do is, you know, do everything you can through vetting and everything else, to make sure that you put before the public good, decent people, and that is something we work very hard at.”
