How a fraudster helped fund Farage’s US trip to meet Musk

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Nigel Farage’s trip to Florida to meet tech billionaire Elon Musk was partly funded by convicted fraudster George Cottrell, records show.

The former Ukip volunteer paid for the Reform UK leader’s £15,000 fight from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Palm Beach, Florida, last year where he was pictured posing next to Mr Musk and Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy.

Mr Cottrell, who spent eight months in jail after being convicted of one count of wire fraud in the US, is a former adviser to Mr Farage.

After being arrested in 2016, he struck a plea bargain with prosecutors, who said he had agreed to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers.

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At the time of Mr Cottrell’s arrest, Mr Farage told ITV he was surprised by what had happened and had "never had any suspicions" about him.

He also said he could not be held responsible for "what everyone around me does".

The £15,000 flight - declared on the MPs’ register of interests - is Mr Cottrell’s first donation to the party since the election.

Last year, Mr Farage declared a £9,000 trip to Belgium in April, donated by Mr Cottrell. While his mother, Fiona Cottrell, gave Reform UK £500,000.

The party leader’s trip to Florida in December saw him meet with Elon Musk amid speculation the tech billionaire was considering donating to the party.

Mr Farage described his hour-long meeting with the tech billionaire at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort as historic, saying he and Mr Candy had “learned a great deal about the Trump ground game”.

Mr Farage repeatedly insisted he knew nothing about a potential contribution to Reform from Mr Musk, but said the party would take the money if it were offered.

He said the men would have “ongoing discussions on other areas”, adding: “We only have one more chance left to save the West and we can do great things together.”

The visit was at least the fourth time Mr Farage had travelled to America since his election as MP for Clacton in July.

The Independent has contacted Mr Farage for comment.