George Cottrell (born 1 October 1993) is a British financier and

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. He was a senior advisor to

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...

and served as head of fundraising for the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

(UKIP) until his arrest in the USA following the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Early life and family

Cottrell was born in London, England, to an aristocratic family. His father, Mark Cottrell, a businessman and landowner from Gloucestershire, attended

Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

with Prince Andrew, Duke of York. George Cottrell's mother, The Honourable Fiona Watson, a daughter of Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton (d.2003), is a former glamour model and girlfriend of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. Cottrell's maternal uncle

Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh, KBE, PC (born 28 October 1950) is a British peer and UK Independence Party politician. Early life Hesketh succeeded in the barony (and baronetcy) on 6 October 1955, aged four, when his fath ...

, was the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords and served as Treasurer of the Conservative Party but later defected to the

(UKIP) in 2011. Cottrell was raised and educated on the private island of

Mustique Mustique is a small private island in the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which is part of the Grenadines, a chain of islands in the West Indies. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, and the closest island is the uninhab ...

before attending Malvern College, from which he was expelled for illegal gambling.

Career

Cottrell was listed as a director in a number of businesses from a young age, both in the UK and overseas. Starting in 2013, Cottrell assumed a number of roles at banks, including Credit Suisse,

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...

, and

Banca Privada d'Andorra Banca Privada d'Andorra (, BPA) was a bank in Andorra founded in 1957. History Banca Privada d'Andorra was created in 1957 under the name of Banca Cassany and began its activities in 1958. In 1993 Caixa Catalunya became a shareholder and the en ...

(BPA). Following the 2015 UK general election, Cottrell was appointed deputy treasurer of the

United Kingdom Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

(UKIP). While head of fundraising for UKIP, Cottrell became the chief of staff to

, who was then UKIP leader. When Farage resigned as leader of UKIP, Cottrell continued to run his private office.

Arrest and conviction

On 22 July 2016, while attending the Republican National Convention with Farage, Cottrell was arrested by

IRS Criminal Investigation Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the United States federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating potential criminal violations of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes, such as mone ...

special agents at Chicago O'Hare International. Cottrell was federally indicted on 21 counts for conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail, and extortion. Denied bail by a judge who branded Cottrell a "serious flight risk," he was detained in custody at

Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago The Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago (MCC Chicago) is a United States federal prison in Chicago, Illinois, which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels prior to and during court proceedings in the Northern District of Il ...

. Cottrell's indictment states how in 2014, he met with undercover federal agents in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, where he conspired to launder millions of dollars worth of drug money using offshore bank accounts. However, following a plea agreement in December 2016, prosecutors agreed to dismiss 20 counts in return for a guilty plea to a single count of

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

in which Cottrell admitted to explaining various ways criminal proceeds could be laundered. In March 2017, Cottrell was sentenced and released by Judge

Diane Humetewa Diane Joyce Humetewa ( ; Help:IPA/English born December 5, 1964)Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings ...

, having served eight months in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, George 1993 births Living people People convicted of money laundering People educated at Malvern College