A British aristocrat who advertised money laundering services is reported to have spent $20 million on playing poker.
A British aristocrat, previously found guilty in the US for wireless fraud, lost $20 million in a high-risk cash game the previous week.
George Cottrell, aged 30, was playing in a hidden game at the Maestral Casino in Budva, Montenegro. The game was said to have included "Chinese billionaires, Hollywood stars, and some of the world's best high roller poker players," according to The Daily Mail.
The Maestral Casino is currently hosting the Triton Poker Series, an occasion for expert players set up by previous junket operator Paul Phua, who's also had his share of legal woes in the US and other locations.
British poker player and businessman Rob Yong, present in town to take part in the Triton events, messaged on X that the cash games were "wild."
"The big game way too big for me here, $200k + just to see the flop," Yong wrote in arousal.
A source told The Daily Mail that Cottrell didn't appear to be bothered by his eye-watering losses.
"Despite George losing so much money, he seemed to be enjoying himself and didn't leave the table until 7 am. At that point, he was $20 million in debt," the source said.
Who's George Cottrell?
Cottrell's mother is Fiona Watson, a former model who used to date King Charles. She is the daughter of Rupert Watson, the third Baron Manton.
Cottrell rose up the ranks to become a banker and dated reality TV show celebrities. He eventually worked as an advisor to Nigel Farage, who led the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and pushed the UK to leave the European Union.
Cottrell was involved in the Brexit campaign, which succeeded after the European Union referendum in June 2016.
Unbeknownst to Cottrell at the time, the drug dealers he'd tried to blackmail in Las Vegas two years earlier were undercover FBI agents.
Excited about the Brexit win, in July 2016, he joined Farage at the Republican National Convention in the US to witness Donald Trump becoming the party's presidential candidate.
As Cottrell tried to return to the UK, he was captured by FBI authorities at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
21 Criminal Charges
Cottrell had been marketing himself on the dark web as an offshore investment expert who could move money into and out of the US. When two FBI agents disguised as drug dealers contacted him for his services, Cottrell agreed to meet them in Las Vegas to progress the deal.
He later admitted in his plea agreement that he planned to keep the money for himself instead of laundering it. Soon after the Las Vegas encounter, he demanded about $80,000 in bitcoin from the undercover agents in exchange for keeping silent on the arrangement.
Cottrell was initially charged with 21 offenses, such as conspiring to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail, and extortion. He later agreed to plead guilty to just one count of wire fraud and was released after serving eight months in jail.
Last year, Montenegrin officials inspected a bar in the coastal town of Tivat that housed gaming machines and a "cryptomat," used for purchasing and trading cryptocurrencies. Cottrell denies having any ties to the establishment or the crypto industry through his lawyer.
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Source: www.casino.org
