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The convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred a total of more than $2m to his mother, Fiona Cottrell, in the days before her 2024 donations to Reform UK, the Guardian understands.
Financial industry sources told the Guardian that Fiona received one deposit of $1.4m and two tranches of more than $300,000 each – money she attributed to having come from her son, George, when bankers asked about the deposits.
On each occasion, the Guardian understands transfers were made 24-72 hours before Fiona made a donation either directly to Reform, or via Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehicle for the political party.
According to sources, the lump sums went through US-based cryptocurrency exchanges before entering Fiona’s account. These platforms allow crypto-assets to be changed for hard currency, such as US dollars or British pounds. Some were routed to Fiona via money exchange services.
The Metropolitan police are investigating the funding of Reform UK, with a focus on scrutinising whether there were attempts to disguise the ultimate source of donations.
The new disclosures will add to the questions facing Reform and its leader, Nigel Farage, whose finances have been under the spotlight since the Guardian revealed he received a £5m gift from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Fiona was one of the most important donors to the party in 2024, making secret as well as public donations. She gave two lots of £250,000 in May 2024, which were disclosed transparently to the Electoral Commission. It can be revealed that these donations were preceded by transfers of $318,878 and $328,815 from her son.
As first revealed by the Guardian, she also gave more than £1m to Britain Means Business, a company controlled by the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, in June 2024. That cash transfer was not declared officially at the time, and was routed via the bank account of Oneify, an Australian money exchange service. Half that sum was transferred directly to the party days later by Tice, with no declaration that it originated from Fiona Cottrell.
It can now be revealed that sources have told the Guardian that $1,400,000 was deposited into Fiona Cottrell’s account by her son before she gave the £1,075,000 to Britain Means Business on 10 June 2024, just weeks before the general election.
In total, George Cottrell deposited $2,047,693 into his mother’s account, the Guardian has been told. Taking into account her 2024 donations to Britain Means Business and Reform UK, Fiona gave a total of £1.5m that year. These amounts are roughly equivalent, based on exchange rate data from May and June 2024.
Two Reform UK sources who were involved in party fundraising before the 2024 vote told the Guardian that George had assured senior party figures that some money would be on its way into the party’s coffers in the weeks leading up to the vote.
“He was acting as a sort of shadow treasurer, saying he would find a way to get more money in,” one of the sources said.
Asked about the transfers, lawyers for George Cottrell said their client had no further comment.
In previous legal correspondence, George has not denied giving his mother – who is understood to be of relatively modest means – large sums of money. Instead, he said via lawyers that “any political donations his mother has made have been entirely her own decision, and are a matter for her”.
Fiona Cottrell has not responded to several attempts by the Guardian to contact her.
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George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster whom Farage has described as being “like a son to me”, lives in Montenegro and has said he is resident there for tax purposes. He has been described as Farage’s chief of staff by Reform insiders, even though the party maintains that he is only a volunteer.
His lawyers have said he is a permissible donor, despite living abroad, but have not explained how he meets the criteria or when he first met them. The only declared donation George Cottrell made to Reform in 2024 was £15,000 to part-fund Farage’s trip to Florida that December, where he met Elon Musk.
It comes as pressure mounts on Reform’s leadership to explain the lack of transparency, and apparent overlap, between personal funders and political backers.
The Guardian revealed in recent weeks that Tice had received an undisclosed loan of £80,000 from George Cottrell, who has also donated to Reform UK.
In April, this newspaper revealed that Nigel Farage received an undisclosed gift of £5m from the party’s most important donor, Harborne.
Several of these transactions caused bankers to raise potential money-laundering concerns with the UK’s Crime Agency, via suspicious activity reports (SARs), according to financial industry sources.
After the Clacton byelection, Farage faces investigations by the parliamentary standards commissioner into whether he should have declared the £5m and also over benefits in kind given by George Cottrell.
In an interview with the Telegraph last week, Farage appeared for the first time to acknowledge that he should have declared the £5m on the register of MPs’ interests: “All right, perhaps I should have filled in a piece of paper. If that’s the worst thing I’ve done in life – not filling in a form – I would say that’s not too bad.”
Tice has failed to engage with questions about his loan from George Cottrell and decision to transfer £500,000 to Reform UK from Britain Means Business despite bankers raising concerns with him about the origin of the funds. He has accused the Metropolitan police of being involved in a smear campaign against him and briefing the media.
He posted on X: “The Establishment are playing dirtier than ever to try to smear & discredit Reform leaders.”
The Met investigation into Fiona Cottrell’s four donations in 2024 has been continuing for more than a year.
The Met issued this statement on its investigation in recent weeks: “An investigation was launched in February 2025 after a referral was made to the Metropolitan police by the Electoral Commission relating to donations made to a political party ahead of the 2024 UK general election.
“Detectives from the Met’s special inquiry team are investigating alleged offences under section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Early investigative advice has been sought from the Crown Prosecution Service and two people have so far been interviewed under caution. No arrests have been made.
“An offence under this section is not one that the Electoral Commission can investigate and, as such, it is a matter for the police.”
Asked whether Reform had been assured that George Cottrell would find a way to provide funds, and was regarded as a shadow treasurer, a spokesperson said: “We deny this completely. Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, are strictly followed, as has been the case with all donations.”
