Convicted fraudster and Nigel Farage supporter George Cottrell had $9 million deposited into his Polymarket account by two unknown sources.
Based on it, monetary instances (FT) reported that Cottrell’s Polymarket account with the username “GCottrell93” acquired $8.8 million in October 2024.
He acquired $7 million in 5 totally different transactions from the pockets of cryptocurrency trade OKX and one other $1.83 million from the pockets of ChangeNOW.
These funds had been used nearly instantly to wager on whether or not Trump would win the US election. From right here, F.T. It claims that $13 million of the winnings had been transferred to OKX wallets and $282,000 was transferred to ChangeNOW.
Cottrell was beforehand arrested for agreeing to launder drug proceeds and was convicted of wire fraud in March 2017.
For a few years, little was recognized about Cottrell’s relationship with Farage. However Mr Farage has been thrust into the highlight over the previous 12 months after it emerged he had acquired an undeclared £5m present from billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborn.
Mr Cottrell was additionally revealed to have offered funding for workers, safety and housing for the UK Reform chief forward of the 2024 election.
None of those had been declared and had been subsequently referred to the UK Parliament’s Requirements Committee.
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Cottrell continued to wager on Polymarket all year long. Protoss reported in March 2026 that he wager $41,000 that the struggle between america and Iran would final 4 extra months.
One in every of his greater bets is at the moment a $71,000 wager on whether or not Vice President J.D. Vance will win the Republican nomination for president in 2028.
Along with Mr. FT report, signing time It was additionally revealed as we speak that Mr Cottrell had beforehand used a fraudulent Swiss passport below the title ‘Oscar Drewitt’.
This fraudulent id was reportedly recognized by former Reform UK treasurer Mertaş Azami, who employed Cottrell into the town’s monetary community whereas utilizing this Swiss alias.
signing time Additionally they found {that a} fellow gambler named Hong Kong Yong had launched Cottrell to the community below a false title, that Yong and Thistle had registered corporations with the identical Montenegro-Tibet workplace, and that Harborn and two different former Reform UK workers had been concerned.
