A betting account in the name of George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who bankrolled Nigel Farage, received almost $9mn in cryptocurrency from unidentified sources while he was providing gifts and benefits to the Reform UK leader.
In October 2024, the account on Polymarket registered in the name “GCottrell93” received about $8.8mn from two separate wallets. The funds were deposited from two crypto wallets and then used to bet on Donald Trump winning the US presidential election.
Shortly after the election result, which generated $4.46mn in profit, almost all of the money in the account was emptied into two different wallets. It is unclear who provided the money used by the account and who ultimately received the winnings.
Over the course of 2024, Cottrell financed Farage’s staff, security, transport, accommodation and travel. He paid for at least one trip for the Reform leader to the US soon after the US election.
The flows of betting money raise questions about the source of the 32-year-old’s finances and whether money from different individuals has been used to fund his gifts, donations or benefits in kind for Farage.
Farage has admitted that Cottrell has allowed him to stay in a five-storey house the convicted fraudster rents near Buckingham Palace, a few minutes from Reform’s headquarters in Millbank, as first reported by the Sunday Times.
The property was rented for £5,480 per week last year, according to a person briefed on the matter.
On December 14 2024, after the Trump bets were cashed in, Cottrell paid for Farage to travel to Palm Beach for a three-day visit where he met tech billionaire Elon Musk and discussed a potential donation to Reform UK. The cost of the trip was valued at £15,300 in Farage’s register of financial interests as an MP.
The Guardian has also reported that Cottrell covered the cost of a lunch attended by Farage and potential Reform donors in December 2024.
Cottrell declined to answer questions about the beneficial owner of the Polymarket wallet, whether any third party had an economic interest in the bets or winnings, and whether any of the money was used directly or indirectly to fund travel, staff, security, accommodation, loans, gifts or other support for Farage or Reform.
His lawyers said he would not comment on his financial affairs or on specific transactions, and that this did not mean he accepted the FT’s assertions.
Reform did not respond to a request for comment.
Cottrell was born into an aristocratic family. His father’s estate was valued at £1.5mn in 2023, according to legal documents seen by the FT.
In 2016, Cottrell was charged with 21 offences over his alleged role in a “dark money” laundering scheme. Prosecutors claimed that he had offered to help launder millions of dollars in criminal proceeds through offshore bank accounts and other financial structures, and discussed methods of concealing the origin of illicit funds.
Cottrell entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors under which 20 out of the 21 charges were dismissed. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and served time in an Arizona prison.
The Polymarket account was filled in late October 2024 from two sources. First, $7mn was transferred into the wallet from the OKX crypto exchange in five tranches, each worth $1mn or $2mn.
A further $1.83mn was sent from a wallet that had been filled via ChangeNOW, another crypto exchange.
As each tranche of money was moved into the GCottrell93 account, the funds were immediately placed on positions backing Trump to win the US election.
Immediately after Trump’s victory, the wallet transferred out the bulk of its contents: $13mn was paid into a deposit wallet at the crypto exchange OKX in seven tranches. A further $282,000 was paid into a wallet at ChangeNOW.
Information on the movement of funds between crypto accounts is publicly available on each blockchain and this data can be downloaded from numerous online sources.
Last year, Cottrell was named in a High Court claim alleging that betting accounts in his name had previously been used by other gamblers to place wagers worth millions of dollars.
The claim alleged that Cottrell allowed accounts he owned or controlled to be used by a professional betting syndicate, with profits split between him and others.
The High Court claim did not allege that the arrangement with Cottrell was illegal, and described it as a commercial arrangement. Cottrell has not responded to the points in the case, as he is not a party to it.
The GCottrell93 wallet now has a stablecoin balance worth $126,000 and positions on Polymarket currently valued at $63,000. Its biggest open position is a $61,000 bet on JD Vance to win the Republican nomination for president in 2028.
Earlier this year, the account placed bets on Trump using the phrase “American dream” in a speech delivered on May 1. The account also bet that Sir Keir Starmer would leave office by the end of February.
The OKX exchange pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws and agreed to pay penalties of more than $500mn in a case that was unrelated to Cottrell’s activity on the platform.
Additional reporting by Julie Steinberg
