Nigel Farage’s recent scandals have been a tale of two crypto tycoons — one a millionaire and the other a billionaire. The millionaire of the two is George Cottrell (a.k.a. ‘Posh George’); the billionaire is Christopher Harborne. While the latter man is responsible for the most suspicious payment (the notorious £5m gift to Farage), it’s Posh George who’s generally the most suspicious. This aura of suspicion is in part because Cottrell is a convicted fraudster, but it’s also because of his connections to the now defunct Tethet.bet — a site connected to potentially illegal activity in the UK. As the Times have now revealed, however, Posh George may not be the only one of the two linked to this site:

EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Farage’s secret donors can both be linked to crypto betting platform implicated in potentially illegal gambling for first time

Christopher Harborne firm used to facilitate UK client bets with Tetherbet, in which George Cottrell is key man https://t.co/2Air2R6wI6

— Gabriel Pogrund (@Gabriel_Pogrund) August 15, 2026

Farage’s crypto men

Posh George was convicted of wire fraud in the US, and he did time in prison as a result. The Posh George controversies include the following:

• Providing Farage with various undeclared benefits in the run-up to the 2024 election.
• Making undisclosed donations to Reform UK.
• Potentially transferring even more money to Reform via his mum.
• Allegedly working for and profiting from Tether.bet.

As we covered, Tether.bet closed down last week. Posh George reportedly moved to Montenegro to become involved with the site, which was allegedly targeting ‘VIP’ Brits to make bets and receive winnings. The appeal of Tether.bet was that it allowed high rollers to put hundreds of thousands of pounds on individual bets — something that operators in the UK shied away from.

According to the Times, Posh George was allegedly one of the men seeking out these VIP customers. This would be a problem if he was, because the gambling provided by Tether.bet was illegal for customers in the UK; it’s also a crime to advertise or provide such services.

The Reform connections apparently go beyond Cottrell too, as the Times have now reported:

While active, the platform asked British “VIP” customers to deposit bets and receive winnings via Fispay, a UK company owned by Mowbray Jackson, Reform’s data protection officer and a friend of Farage, Cottrell and Harborne.

Fispay did not have an account with a traditional bank, instead handling funds using IFX, a crossborder payments firm wholly owned by Harborne. Tether.bet and Fispay at no stage held a Gambling Commission licence to provide facilities for betting to customers in Great Britain.

Denials

As the Times’ Gabriel Pogrund has noted, both Cottrell and Harborne have denied the accusations:

Harborne denies all knowledge of the arrangements. Cottrell insists he is just a customer of tetherbet. Mowbray Jackson, Reform’s data protection officer, whose firm was involved, denies wrongdoing.

Read the story by @venetiamenzies me @GeorgeGreenwood and @venetiamenzies

— Gabriel Pogrund (@Gabriel_Pogrund) August 15, 2026

Of course, it could be true that Harborne had no knowledge of what was happening. Is that an allowable situation, though; that some people are so rich, that they can simply shrug off the illegal activity they’re connected to because their business empire is a mystery even to themselves?

Traditionally, ignorance isn’t considered to be a legal defence. And this could potentially present a problem in future, as the Timeshave reported:

Providing gambling facilities without a licence is an offence under the Gambling Act 2005 in the event that the person doing so knew, or should have known, the facilities were being used in Great Britain. It can carry a prison sentence of up to one year.

Farage is facing a parliamentary investigation over the £5m Harborne sent him; he might also face a police investigation. Could the man’s donors also face legal consequences?

We can’t say for certain, but it does seem like the scandalous revelations aren’t going to dry up any time soon.

Featured image via the Observer

By Willem Moore

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