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Original poster

Where did Fiona Cottrell get all that money?

163 replies

Kingdomofsleep · 10/07/2026 16:04

I've been a bit fascinated by this latest news about Farage and all the money.

The latest detail is that Fiona Cottrell, the mother of Posh George the crypto fraudster guy, gave Reform donations of £1m and £500k over the past few years.

However! She is a retired stylist who lives in a cottage worth between 500k and 1m, and inherited just £1.5m from her husband when he died. So, comfortably off, but not with millions to spare.

I mean, my house is worth around that (mortgaged), and my dh would raise eyebrows if I donated so much as £500 to a political party. Let alone £1.5m!

She seemingly hasn't earnt it or inherited it. So it seems like someone has given it to her to give to Reform. That someone didn't want to give it to Reform in his own name. If this is true, it's fraud apparently. Who is it? This could be so big.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/police-investigate-reform-donations-by-mother-of-fraudster-who-bankrolled-farage-3kd826j7h

Police investigate Reform donations by mother of fraudster who bankrolled Farage

Fiona Cottrell, mother of George Cottrell, who has been funding the Reform UK leader’s operations, gave £500,000 to the party before the last general election

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/police-investigate-reform-donations-by-mother-of-fraudster-who-bankrolled-farage-3kd826j7h

OP posts:
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Original poster
Kingdomofsleep · 23/07/2026 14:18

CatVester · 23/07/2026 13:37

FT article for anyone who wants to read it: https://archive.ph/XLYju

OK so this is interesting, his claim is that the money he received was from a betting syndicate. This is really fascinating because today I learn how you can use a betting syndicate to receive money from God knows who, and then transfer it to someone else once you've created winnings from it. It's money laundering in easy mode isn't it?

Ps thank you for the archive link

OP posts:
BurntBroccoli · 23/07/2026 13:48

TopPocketFind · 23/07/2026 13:28

I can't get around the FT paywall either, in short

A betting account in the name of George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who bankrolled Nigel Farage, received almost $9mn in cr*ptocurrency from unidentified sources while he was providing gifts to the Reform UK leader

I’ve been able to view the article
https://www.ft.com/content/b74cbc54-c6ae-4f4a-9350-3dab1f2758d0?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Original poster
Kingdomofsleep · 23/07/2026 13:38

A slightly less important but still fascinating angle for me in this story is how young posh George was when he first became Farage's protege-cashcow. He was in his early 20s. How...? How did George get into the racket? How did Farage get to know him? Where do you even find crooks who can give you millions of pounds and free houses?

(When I was in my early 20s, I could barely keep up with laundering my own clothes each week! Let alone laundering millions of pounds of drug money).

That, combined with what a handsome baby-face he has, makes this whole story Netflix gold. Maybe Tom Holland could play him. Fiona Cottrell is also a beauty, she could be played by Rosamund Pike.

The thing is, we need to know the denouement before we can write the film and choose the A-listers. Who is giving them all that money??

OP posts:
CatVester · 23/07/2026 13:37

FT article for anyone who wants to read it: https://archive.ph/XLYju

TheExtraGuineaPig · 23/07/2026 13:31

The Times podcast “Posh George” by Gabriel Pogrund is fascinating.

TopPocketFind · 23/07/2026 13:28

I can't get around the FT paywall either, in short

A betting account in the name of George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who bankrolled Nigel Farage, received almost $9mn in cr*ptocurrency from unidentified sources while he was providing gifts to the Reform UK leader

banmusk · 23/07/2026 13:15

How hilarious that he can be so easy undone by his own hubris. Farage is so desperate to be like trump that he sees himself as the segment behind him in a human centipede. He really thinks he can get away with behaving like trump.

PerkingFaintly · 23/07/2026 12:52

I can't read the FT article, but I expect it to be interesting.

Gambling is a well-known route for money-laundering.

George Cottrell has well-documented gambling issues, and he has an indictment for and very public on-going interest in money-laundering. So it's an obvious place to dig.

‘Like a son to me’: George Cottrell, the high-rolling convicted fraudster at Nigel Farage’s side
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/03/george-cottrell-nigel-farage-reform-uk-montenegro

Senior Reform UK figures attend launch of How to Launder Money book
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/14/reform-uk-figures-attend-book-launch-how-to-launder-money

‘Like a son to me’: George Cottrell, the high-rolling convicted fraudster at Nigel Farage’s side

Extravagant lifestyle and past controversies of Montenegro-based volunteer raise awkward questions for Reform leader

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/03/george-cottrell-nigel-farage-reform-uk-montenegro

PerkingFaintly · 23/07/2026 11:02

Goodness, what a surprise.

TopPocketFind · 23/07/2026 09:39

More from the FT

Betting account in Cottrell’s name received $9mn in cr*pto from unidentified sources https://ft.trib.al/8PXAsSa

Teanbiscuits33 · 18/07/2026 22:10

Copy and paste the times link into here and it should work. I can read it, it just doesn’t allow me to paste the resulting link onto this thread.

BeardySchnauzer · 18/07/2026 22:03

Just come across this thread and this is all very interesting!

Farage is the ultimate grifter - I couldn’t believe it when he claimed the Russians hacked him because the £5m was supposed to say secret 🤔

there’s a lot more to come out and his little resignation game isn’t going to cover it up

Teanbiscuits33 · 18/07/2026 22:01

This reply has been hidden

This reply has been hidden until the MNHQ team can have a look at it.

Teanbiscuits33 · 18/07/2026 21:49

TopPocketFind · 18/07/2026 21:48

The convicted criminal who funded Nigel Farage opened an account with an obscure overseas payments company days before it was used to channel an “unexplained” £500,000 donation to Reform UK

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/george-cottrell-reform-nigel-farage-donation-transactions-mb655ppw5

(I can'r read it as behind paywall and it doesn't let me archive it either)

Edit: it didn’t work!

TopPocketFind · 18/07/2026 21:48

The convicted criminal who funded Nigel Farage opened an account with an obscure overseas payments company days before it was used to channel an “unexplained” £500,000 donation to Reform UK

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/george-cottrell-reform-nigel-farage-donation-transactions-mb655ppw5

(I can'r read it as behind paywall and it doesn't let me archive it either)

George Cottrell opened account days before mystery Reform donation

Sunday Times revelations raise new questions over the provenance of £500,000 gifted to Nigel Farage’s party by the convicted fraudster’s mother

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/george-cottrell-reform-nigel-farage-donation-transactions-mb655ppw5

SwedishEdith · 18/07/2026 20:50

Hmm, don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Persephonia1966 · 18/07/2026 20:48

SwedishEdith · 11/07/2026 18:56

The FT is doing amazing journalistic work atm.

https://www.ft.com/content/b5b32b7e-7d4a-448a-b7f7-ebdc1533c6a9?syn-25a6b1a6=1

It was the FT who Mandleson accused of being "obsessed" with his friendship with Epstein . Turns out they were right not to let that go.

PerkingFaintly · 18/07/2026 20:43

More on the sudden cooling of the Murdoch and other rightwing media's love affair with Farage.

Among other reasons for this, Reform have been trying out the Trump playbook of appealing to their base by attacking the mainstream media. Thus pissing off the mainstream media who were puffing Reform in the first place.<headdesk>

Farage had a confrontation with the editor of the Times; and Trevor Kavanagh at the Sun wrote:
“We are witnessing the sudden death of a political movement which began as the UK Independence party, morphed into the Brexit party, and now Reform,” he wrote. “Or, to simply name names, Nigel Farage.”

Farage’s furious clash with Times editor stuns figures close to him
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/18/nigel-farage-clash-times-editor-reform

Farage’s furious clash with Times editor stuns figures close to him

‘Strong confrontation’ comes at fragile moment for Reform’s relations with rightwing media as coverage turns negative

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/18/nigel-farage-clash-times-editor-reform

SwedishEdith · 11/07/2026 18:56

The FT is doing amazing journalistic work atm.

https://www.ft.com/content/b5b32b7e-7d4a-448a-b7f7-ebdc1533c6a9?syn-25a6b1a6=1

SinnerBoy · 11/07/2026 18:07

Timmy Robertson, who styles himself the arbiter of patriotism, going to consort with a national enemy, eh?

SwedishEdith · 11/07/2026 17:27

Bromptotoo · 11/07/2026 17:22

It worked for Trump.

However this is not the USA.

Show quote history

It's not. Yet. The USA doesn't have an aristocratic class. It's simply not credible to claim that you can be both aristocratic and not part of the establishment.

But there is some link between the Cottrells and the Hesketh family, presumably. That's what Tice suggested.

Bromptotoo · 11/07/2026 17:22

SwedishEdith · 11/07/2026 17:19

Tice said she was from an aristocratic family and this was the establishment attacking Reform. Do they actually listen to what comes out of their mouths?

Show quote history

It worked for Trump.

However this is not the USA.

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