Nigel Farage failed to declare funding from crypto gambling figure convicted of fraud: Sunday Times

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage received extensive undisclosed financial support from George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster involved in an offshore crypto gambling platform, and appears to have breached MPs' disclosure rules by failing to declare it, according to a Sunday Times investigation published this weekend.

The newspaper reported that Cottrell paid for Farage's private security, drivers, social media staff and accommodation in the year before his election as MP for Clacton on July 4, 2024. Cottrell confirmed through lawyers that he hired staff for Farage's private office and paid them by bank transfer, per the report.

House of Commons rules require newly elected MPs to register benefits worth more than £300 received in the 12 months before their election if they relate "in any way" to their political activities, though purely personal gifts are excluded. Farage reported a £9,253 trip to Belgium funded by Cottrell and a later £15,276 flight donation, and no other support from him.

Cottrell, 32, was arrested in 2016 at Chicago's O'Hare airport while traveling with Farage, and served eight months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a money laundering sting. He later moved to Montenegro, where The Sunday Times described him as a key player in Tether.bet, an offshore bookmaker that accepts large wagers in cash or crypto, including Tether's USDT stablecoin.

The platform's website was registered days after Farage, Cottrell and Christopher Harborne had lunch together in Mayfair in July 2020, according to the report. Harborne, a Thailand-based billionaire, holds an estimated 12% stake in USDT issuer Tether and has donated more than £12 million to Reform UK.

The Sunday Times also alleged that as late as 2022, UK customers' deposits to Tether.bet were routed through two British shell companies, one of them owned by Reform's current data protection officer. Providing unlicensed gambling services to UK customers can constitute a criminal offense under UK law; Cottrell denied personally seeking clients for the platform.

Farage is already under investigation by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a roughly £5 million personal gift from Harborne in 2024, which he did not declare. Farage has said that money was given to cover his personal security, though the new reporting indicates Cottrell had been paying for his security in the months before the gift arrived.

A spokesperson for Farage dismissed the story as "baseless and contrived," saying no rules were broken because the support came before Farage was an active politician. Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde wrote to the standards commissioner on Sunday requesting an investigation; a serious breach finding in the Harborne matter could bring a Commons suspension and a possible recall petition in Farage's Clacton seat.

Both Cottrell and Harborne hold financial interests in the crypto sector Farage has championed. The Reform leader has pledged a Bank of England bitcoin reserve and a capital gains tax cut on crypto if his party wins power, and in March took a 6.3% stake in UK bitcoin treasury firm Stack BTC.

His crypto advocacy has drawn separate complaints, including an April request from Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper for an FCA probe into whether his promotion of digital assets amounts to market abuse. Farage has denied any connection between his personal financial relationships and his policy positions.