British hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, who made a fortune shorting British banks last year, has emerged as one of the backers of Declan Ganley's Libertas in the EU elections earlier this year.

The quarterly Electoral Commission declarations in Britain show Odey gave £3,000 cash to "Pro Democracy: Libertas.eu" on 28 May. Odey also gave nearly £5,500 worth of printing services, £7,000 worth of print and distribution and over £1,600 worth of distribution services.

Odey and his wife Nichola Pease are known as the Posh and Becks of finance. Earlier this year he threatened to move his £3bn Odey Asset Management business out of Britain because of its new 50% tax rate and new EU legislation aimed at regulating private equity and hedge funds.

Libertas raised £38,000 from three cash donors and nearly the same amount in non-cash donations.