Nigel Farage has been referred to parliament’s ethics watchdog over a claim he received financial benefits from a convicted criminal in the year before becoming an MP – and failed to declare them
Nigel Farage has been referred to Parliament’s standards watchdog after allegedly failing to declare financial benefits he received from a convicted criminal who offered to launder drug money.
The Reform UK leader is accused of breaching parliamentary rules over claims he accepted staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell in the year before he became an MP.
Mr Cottrell – a rich aristocrat known as “Posh George” – now faces an ethics watchdog probe over the alleged financial support from the baby-faced British aristocrat, who avoided 20 years in prison in the US after striking a plea deal. Reform UK denied that its leader breached the code of conduct.
Cottrell – known in the US federal prison system as inmate 46832-424 – was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2017 after admitting to one count of wire fraud, having initially been indicted on 21 offences.
Using the alias “Bill”, he presented himself as someone prepared to move criminal proceeds, including drug money, through the dark web.
In his plea agreement with Arizona Judge Diane Humetewa, Cottrell admitted he had worked with another individual known as “Banker” to advertise money-laundering services on a black-market website accessible via the TOR network.
He admitted communicating online with people seeking to clean the proceeds of crime and explaining ways large sums of cash could be moved out of the United States without triggering reporting requirements. He also discussed how criminal funds could be disguised as legitimate business income for tax purposes.
But, in his plea agreement, he said he and Banker intended to “retain the money”.
He told the court: “On March 27, 2014, I communicated online with individuals seeking to launder proceeds of criminal activity via an encrypted group instant messaging platform known as Cryptocat.
“I explained various ways criminal proceeds could be laundered – for example, methods to transfer large amounts of cash out of the United States without triggering reporting requirements, and ways to disguise the proceeds as legitimate business income for tax purposes.
“I falsely claimed that I would launder the criminal proceeds through my bank accounts for a fee. Rather than launder any of the money, though, Banker and I intended to retain the money.”
Cottrell, who was in his 20s and living in London, met undercover agents posing as traffickers in Las Vegas. The sting operation resulted in his arrest at a Chicago airport when he was returning to Britain with Mr Farage after their trip to the Republican convention in the US. He was then taken to Arizona to face justice.
Cottrell, who had moved in Mr Farage’s orbit during the Brexit years, told the US court: “I’ve battled a years-long multimillion-dollar gambling addiction. I’ve been disinherited. I don’t think as a result of this I have any employment opportunities.”
The court waived a fine after accepting that he did not have the means to pay and his family stepped in to help cover the £23,000 restitution.
Cottrell, 32, is now at the centre of fresh questions over Farage’s financial affairs. According to a Sunday Times report published today, Cottrell recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, and allowed him to use a five-storey Georgian townhouse he rented near Buckingham Palace.
After becoming the MP for Clacton in 2024, Mr Farage – who once described Cottrell as “like a son to me” – registered a £9,000 trip to Belgium donated by Cottrell, and belatedly added £15,000 for a US domestic flight, but no other support was registered.
Under rules in place at the time, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde today called on the standards commissioner to investigate Mr Farage over his alleged failure to declare financial support from Cottrell. He wrote to Daniel Greenberg to say there is a “serious question as to whether Mr Farage met his obligations under the Code of Conduct for MPs”.
Mr Farage is already facing a standards probe over a £5million gift he received from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.
The Reform leader failed to declare the sum received shortly before he announced he was standing in the 2024 general election. If found to have breached the rules, Mr Farage could face sanctions including a Commons suspension that could trigger a recall petition and a by-election in his seat.
In interviews last month, the tetchy Reform leader said it’s not the public’s business how he spends the money, and that can splash it on Ferraris or betting on horseracing if he wants. He previously said the generous sum was to pay for his security.
Labour MP Phil Brickell last week also called for another separate standards probe to be launched over an allegation Mr Farage lobbied the Bank of England for cryptocurrency policies that could benefit the business interests of Reform UK bankroller Mr Harborne.
Labour’s Deputy Leader Lucy Powell said the current House of Commons investigation into Mr Farage should be expanded to include alleged benefits he received from Cottrell.
Asked about the latest claims, she said: “This article and this investigation leave some very, very serious questions and either Nigel Farage has mistakenly, completely misunderstood the rules, or has deliberately misunderstood the rules, but he has misunderstood the rules of declaration and transparency.”
A Labour spokesman added: “Time and again Farage pretends to be on the side of working people. In reality he’s just in it for himself…He’s completely unfit for high office.”
Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick insisted “no rules have been broken”. Asked if Mr Farage stayed in a townhouse that was being rented by George Cottrell, Mr Jenrick on Sunday told the BBC: “I believe Nigel has said that he stayed a couple of times there, very infrequently, as you’re allowed to. Nigel Farage is allowed to have friends. As a politician, you’re allowed to stay at a friend’s house, and certainly remember, Nigel was not an elected politician.”
Asked if Cottrell paid for Nigel Farage’s security and staff in 2024, Mr Jenrick said he did but this was “before he became a member of parliament”. The Newark MP said: “You’re allowed to accept a gift, support, whatever you want to call it, from a personal friend before you’re a member of parliament, if it’s in a purely personal capacity.”
A spokesman for Mr Farage said: “It comes as no surprise that the Sunday Times has chosen to publish this baseless and contrived story, covering a period of time when Nigel Farage was not even an active politician let alone an elected one, given that the newspaper backed the Labour Party at the last general election.
“Contrary to the story’s tone, no parliamentary rules have been broken. We also understand The Sunday Times has a new podcast to promote, which it seems very excited about. Its agenda should be plain for all to see.”
Who is George Cottrell?
George Cottrell, known as ‘Posh George’, has been a loyal aide to Nigel Farage for years.
He played a key role in the Brexit campaign, volunteering for UKIP in the run up to the 2016 EU referendum.
His political career came crashing down when he was jailed in 2017 after admitting to posing as a money launderer to rip off drug smugglers.
After being caught in an FBI sting operation, Cottrell – who was then in his 20s – faced 21 counts relating to money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion. Prosecutors said he had agreed to launder money for undercover agents pretending to be drug traffickers.
Cottrell, now 32, faced 20 years in jail after pleading guilty to wire fraud in the context of a money laundering conspiracy. He ended up spending eight months in a US prison after brokering a plea deal.
Mr Farage was with him when he was arrested as the pair were returning to the UK from a Republican convention.
Cottrell is an aristocrat whose uncle, Lord Hesketh, is a former hereditary peer. The peer worked for former Margaret Thatcher before losing his seat in the Lords in 1999 after the House of Lords Act. He later switched allegiance to UKIP.
According to the Sunday Times, Cottrell is a cryptocurrency entrepreneur.
Cottrell was reportedly expelled from boarding school Malvern College, where fees are currently around nearly £40,000-a-year, and skipped university to go directly into private banking.
His socialite mum was romantically linked to Prince Charles in the 70s and posed nude for a men’s magazine. She has donated £750,000 to Reform UK since May 2024.
In 2019, Cottrell was rumoured to be dating Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo.