George Cottrell, known as a supporter of Nigel Farage and convicted of wire fraud in 2017, recently had $9 million funneled into his Polymarket account by two unidentified wallets. This surge of funds occurred in October 2024 and quickly turned into high-stakes bets on US election outcomes.
The Financial Times uncovered that Cottrell’s Polymarket username “GCottrell93” received $7 million through several transactions from an OKX exchange wallet and an additional $1.83 million from a ChangeNOW wallet. Almost immediately after, these funds were used to wager on whether Donald Trump would win the US presidential election. Subsequent winnings totaling $13 million were transferred back to OKX, while an extra $282,000 went to ChangeNOW.
Cottrell’s past includes a conviction for wire fraud linked to laundering drug money, yet his close ties to Nigel Farage had stayed largely out of public view until recently. This changed when it emerged that Farage accepted an undeclared £5 million gift from billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborne. It also came to light that Cottrell financially supported Farage’s campaign staff, security, and housing leading up to the 2024 election, none of which were declared and are now under investigation by the UK’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Beyond election bets, Cottrell has kept a steady presence on Polymarket, placing $41,000 on the continuation of the US war with Iran in March 2026 and currently holding a $71,000 wager on Vice President JD Vance winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2028.
Further scrutiny by Byline Times revealed Cottrell’s use of a fake Swiss passport under the alias “Oscar Drewitt.” This false identity was apparently known to Mehrtash A’zami, former Treasurer of Reform UK, who introduced Cottrell into a financial network in London. The investigation also connected A’zami and a gambler named Hon Kong Yong to companies registered at the same Montenegro office tied to Harborne and other Reform UK officials.
