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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:
Thread gallery
18
SwedishEdith · 11/07/2026 17:19

Bromptotoo · 11/07/2026 15:17

That's the key question.

Tice was very aggressive on the broadcast round that he's known her for years, she's a permitted donor and that's that. End Of.

Hate to break it to you Richard but it's not your call!!

Show quote history

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?

PerkingFaintly · 11/07/2026 15:52

PerkingFaintly · 11/07/2026 12:09

Arrgh, I got the date wrong anyway.Confused

My hidden post mentions a programme on BBC2 programme which will be tomorrow, Saturday, at 9pm: The Tech Billionaire Takeover.

Looks like it answers @Kingdomofsleep 's question about whether keeping c-money unregulated is worthwhile for the billionaires: yes. In spades.

Edited

No no, tomorrow SUNDAY 12 July at 9 pm.

OMG I need a lie down and a cooling drink! Sorry for the misinformation everyone.Blush

Bromptotoo · 11/07/2026 15:17

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

That's the key question.

Tice was very aggressive on the broadcast round that he's known her for years, she's a permitted donor and that's that. End Of.

Hate to break it to you Richard but it's not your call!!

PerkingFaintly · 11/07/2026 12:09

Arrgh, I got the date wrong anyway.Confused

My hidden post mentions a programme on BBC2 programme which will be tomorrow, Saturday, at 9pm: The Tech Billionaire Takeover.

Looks like it answers @Kingdomofsleep 's question about whether keeping c-money unregulated is worthwhile for the billionaires: yes. In spades.

Powerbungalow · 11/07/2026 11:50

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 10/07/2026 20:36

Her son.

George has been a friend and supporter of Farage for a decade.

i don't get why this is such a story.

Gee I wonder....

SinnerBoy · 11/07/2026 11:48

Nobody knows where the money originated, it appeared in an Australian holding account and passed to Ma Cotterel. She then passed it to Britain Means Buisness (Tice's company).

Tice then passed it into the Reform account. Anyone thinking that such deliberate opacity is above board is either very naive, of doesn't care about corruption, as long as its people they support.

Persephonia1966 · 11/07/2026 11:45

If you call it crapto your post doesn't get hidden. And it feels more accurate as well.
Obviously we won't know exactly why and where she got the money from until the investigation is concluded. But the whole thing feels like it could be on a spectrum starting at Farage is in something dodgy through to Farage is involved in something extremely dodgy and a serious crime.

PerkingFaintly · 11/07/2026 11:20

That post includes the c-money word, so you'll have to wait for it to be unhidden.

But TL;DR, yes, keeping c-money unregulated is VERY worth it to them.

PerkingFaintly · 11/07/2026 11:19

This reply has been hidden

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

Original poster
Kingdomofsleep · 11/07/2026 10:35

Money laundering is the means not the motive, it's not the complete answer.

Take the £5m gift. Nobody, but nobody, gives £5m open handedly without expecting a return, a benefit of some kind. It's a large amount of money for anyone. It's not like when you or I give £50 to a friend. That would be like a rich person giving £5k or even £50k. The multiplier isn't millions.

I have a close relative who, for many years, was a PA to a man on the Rich List. He did not give large gifts to anyone except family members, unless they were expected to be reciprocated. Even hospitality and invitations were carefully reciprocated. Most of the money planning was about conserving wealth for the next generation. This is normal for the super rich. They don't get rich by splashing cash around without thinking and giving large gifts impulsively without expecting reciprocation - that's the sort of thing inexperienced lottery winners do before crashing out. (Christopher Harborne, the guy who gave Farage the £5m, is clearly not that type.)

He did, of course, make investments. This £5m is clearly an investment of some kind, as were Fiona Cottrell's payments. But for what benefit? The Times seems to think it's all because Reform will deregulate cry - p - to (trying to get round the filter haha).

Is the cry - pto deregulaton worth that much to them that they can splash millions around just to get Reform into govt?

OP posts:
StepawayfromtheLindors · 11/07/2026 10:18

SwedishEdith · 10/07/2026 21:08

I'm not going to read it but he did write a book called How to Launder Money. I suspect the answers are there in plain sight.

Funnily, I put the book title into Google to check that was right and the Gemini answer told me it couldn't tell me that 😄

I think this is your answer

Original poster
Kingdomofsleep · 11/07/2026 10:16

And my mum was very willing to hand over her payslips and pension slips etc too. She understood the point of it. There was no "it's my money, it's none of your business, it was a gift, I'll spend it on Ferarris if I want!"

Honestly.

OP posts:
Original poster
Kingdomofsleep · 11/07/2026 10:13

WhitstablePearl · 11/07/2026 09:37

George and Fiona Cottrell have been interviewed under caution. Is the house of cards starting to wobble?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/10/george-and-fiona-cottrell-understood-to-have-been-interviewed-under-caution-by-met-police

I'm glad to hear it. You can't just suddenly acquire millions of pounds out of nowhere and then give it to a political party.

When dh and I put a deposit on our first flat, our parents each gave us a few £k to contribute to the deposit. My mum lives abroad and isn't a UK resident or UK citizen, so she was sending me the money from abroad. Gosh, both our mortgage provider and our conveyancer insisted on seeing all sorts of proof of where she'd got that money (easily proven from her payslips etc) but that was tiny small change compared to this.

The people vs the establishment indeed. They're people alright, not my kind of people thanks.

If "the establishment" means law-abiding transparency, I'll take the establishment any day.

OP posts:
PerkingFaintly · 11/07/2026 09:42

Sorry, @Notmycircusnotmyotter , please could you explain the significance of Georgia Toffolo?

I've looked her up but am none the wiser.

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 10/07/2026 23:22

George was dating Georgia Toffolo throughout this time. Another unexamined link.

the papers don't have it yet

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 10/07/2026 23:20

Montenegro.

No one has worked it out yet.

PerkingFaintly · 10/07/2026 21:24

Kingdomofsleep · 10/07/2026 21:09

Your friend with a huge trust fund would give £1.5m to a political party? £1.5m. Not £1,500. To a political party, not their former school or local hospice or even Macmillan cancer nurses.

There's huge and there's huge. I also know people with "huge" trust funds who live relatively frugally so it lasts. They're not giving millions away to the likes of Nigel Farage.

No, this is not like that.

Show quote history

Well to be fair we don't know yet.

But it certainly looks, um, of interest. Worth investigating.

Teanbiscuits33 · 10/07/2026 21:22

WhitstablePearl · 10/07/2026 21:19

Does anyone have a share token for the article?

No, but here’s a non paywall link

Edit: doesn’t seem to work!

WhitstablePearl · 10/07/2026 21:19

Does anyone have a share token for the article?

Original poster
Kingdomofsleep · 10/07/2026 21:09

WitcheryDivine · 10/07/2026 20:48

I don’t find those things in themselves suspicious. She may have tonnes of her own/family money tucked away and prefer a smallish home if she lives alone. I know someone who lives in a small cottage and has had a huge trust fund all her life.

Obviously there’s plenty else about the case that is suspicious and it’s hardly unheard of for crooks to do things in their family’s names if it makes sense to them (il)legally,

Your friend with a huge trust fund would give £1.5m to a political party? £1.5m. Not £1,500. To a political party, not their former school or local hospice or even Macmillan cancer nurses.

There's huge and there's huge. I also know people with "huge" trust funds who live relatively frugally so it lasts. They're not giving millions away to the likes of Nigel Farage.

No, this is not like that.

OP posts:
SwedishEdith · 10/07/2026 21:08

I'm not going to read it but he did write a book called How to Launder Money. I suspect the answers are there in plain sight.

Funnily, I put the book title into Google to check that was right and the Gemini answer told me it couldn't tell me that 😄

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