His clients were locked out of about $250 million, and investigators later. Finally, the OSC discovered something that cracked the case wide open. The business was run from Cotten's encrypted laptop from Cotten's home in Fall River, Nova Scotia. April 2, 2022 Netflix Nobody was expecting Gerald Cotten, the CEO of Canadian Bitcoin exchange QuadrigaCX, to die at 30. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. Gerald Cotten is a bitcoin millionaire from Canada whose death, supposedly from complications relating to Crohn's disease, is now being questioned. Thinking that Jennifer had murdered Cotten, the Telegram group spiraled out of control. I didnt know that Gerry was married, he says. The new documentary "Dead Man's Switch" looks at the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the QuadrigaCX CEO who unexpectedly died and some $250 in investors' money seemingly disappeared with him. The accounting firm Ernst & Young, tasked with auditing the company as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings, discovered numerous money-losing trades executed by Cotten, using customers funds. I personally believe that Cotten is not dead but I would like to hear from people who know more than me about this topic and what they think about the situation. He appointed his wife as the executor of his estate, handing over a $9million real estate empire, his yacht and his Cessna plane - and he even left his two dogs an inheritance of $100,000. He and his wife, Jennifer Robertson, jetted all over the world on private planes, visiting chic locales in Paris, Hawaii, and Morocco. He is believed to have carried out Ponzi scheme scams since he was just 15 - such as playing a role in pre-crypto digital token eGold, according to investigator Amy Castor. Some people called for Geralds body to be exhumed. I really prayed it wasn't a scam. Some have speculated his death was a clever ruse and there have been calls to have his body exhumed to prove it was a "fake". , one of the co-founders, registered the domain name for QuadrigaCXnot Gerry. Indeed, QuadrigaCX launched just three months after sceptre put out a call to build a crypto exchange. "It did become an obsession.. In other news, Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 4 to release Fall 2023, confirms new trailer, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King | Official Trailer | Netflix, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vW2BPQ15OSw/hqdefault.jpg. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohn's disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. Gerald Cleophas Betzen, 68. So his spiral down into a life of crime was either pure greed or him seeking the thrill. I'm new to this subreddit, I apologise if anything I have said breaks the rules. A big chunk of it was given to him by his parents. thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. Trust No One depicts Cotten as a nerdy, happy-go-lucky, and charming CEO, who was knee-deep in Bitcoin and a fierce advocate of the technology. She has also said she has no idea what the passwords are to access sequestered customer funds, and that it wasnt written down anywhere. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere, she said in court filings. (His wife says he is in fact dead and witnessed his funeral). [19], Some Reddit users have suggested that Cotten faked his own death in order to defraud customers through an exit scam, while others believe that Cotten's death exposed a Ponzi scheme. Was a recently-active Skype account proof he was still alive? [16] In 2014 only C$7.4 million worth of bitcoin were exchanged on Quadriga. That same month, Quadriga filed for creditor protection, and scores of angry investors began furiously questioning where their money went, even though only Mr Cotten knew the keys to the companys crypto vault and never set up a dead mans trigger to send them elsewhere in case he was incapacitated. "I couldn't get any sleep. In January 2014 they installed the second Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver. "At that point, we were desperate to recover funds and we were also convinced that a scam was underway," said QCX-INT, an individual who uncovered online documentation of Mr Cottens history of fraudulent behaviour, speaking anonymously to the CBC this year. It was alleged that Patryn was involved in a money-laundering ring under a different nameOmar Dhanani. [33] Aaron Matthews served as Director of Operations. His body was repatriated to . Robertsons sister, for the record, doesnt think that Cotten had fabricated his relationship with Jennifer. And not even. Further complicating the matter the company's co-founder Michael Patryn was revealed to actually be a man named Omar Dhanani, who had previously been convicted in the US of identity fraud. A new documentary on his mysterious death called Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery, airing on Discovery+, looks into accusations the crypto king made off with millions in investors' cash. Here Is Why People Think Gerald Cotten Is Still Alive. Gerald Cotten, who was born on May 11th, 1988, was raised in Belleville, Ontario, before relocating to Toronto to enroll at York University's Schulich School of Business. "I kept asking them: Where's my money? Premieres in 2022 pic.twitter.com/rP9iFJHkWm. that after 2016, QuadrigaCX stopped producing consistent data about its holdings, and that large volumes of cryptocurrencies were being sent to foreign crypto exchanges. The 33-year-old has attempted to get his money back in a lawsuit, but hasn't had any luck as yet. Sign up for notifications from Insider! And not even he thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. It was a perfect match, sparked up on Tinder, she said in the documentary. After his death in December, his colleagues said that about $137 million in cryptocurrency belonging to about 115,000 customers was held offline in "cold storage" and inaccessible. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. My sisters not a liar.. did gerry and his wife fake his passing and steal the money? Companies have backups, safeguards to protect against this kind of thing. Gerald Cotten Still Alive ? Re-thinking indemnification for smart contract risks", "Bitcoin investors face long delays cashing out, criticize two B.C. Image Source: Social Media. There's only two people who really know what happened in India. We explain how to spot them. A NEW documentary on rogue crypto trader Gerald Cotton, who took up to $215million in Bitcoin and other digital currencies to his grave, has sparked rumours he may have faked his death. Gerald Cotten had an estimated net worth of $80 million at the time of his death. Netflixs latest true crime doc, "Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King",seeks to unravel the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the CEO of crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, who died in 2018. I personally believe that Cotten is not dead but I would like to hear from people who know more than me about this topic and what they think about the situation. It just wasnt there. ^ "Quadriga CEO's widow speaks out over his death and the missing crypto millions". At first, the now-closed company allegedly blamed the delay on a legal issue with a bank. The circumstances are dodgy that they chose to honeymoon to India and he suddenly dies from complications of Crohn's disease. Cotten was young, energetic, passionate about cryptocurrency so when. Dying from Crohn's disease when only 1.6% of sufferers from this disease die of it and to happen to die from . However, in 2018, Bitcoin prices crashed and many began withdrawing their funds from Quadriga, except they were being met with error messages before the exchanges website stopped working in 2019. I didnt know that Gerry was married, he says. He is believed to have scooped around around $115million in crypto from his own accounts and put them into high risk financial bets - many of which crashed, costing him more money than Quadriga ever actually made. Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt). Where was the rest of the money? The media dragged Gerald Cotten's wife, Jennifer Robertson, into the spotlight after his mysterious death. "[40][41], Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. Cotton took with him to the grave the keys that allowed access to the digital vault containing his investors cash that they had ploughed into Quadriga CX. [9][10], The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were reportedly investigating the company. Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Jennifer in India, Cotten has been recast since his death as a thrill-seeking scammer, Michael Patryn - real name Omar Dhanani - had previously been convicted of identity fraud, Bitcoin miner electrocuted to death by his computer after forcing it to churn out endless amounts of crypto. Its pretty much money by people for people.. Cotten also took flying lessons as he appeared to be possibly preparing for a life on the run. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, A lost password, a sudden death and $180M in missing crypto, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, 50 cash with friend referrals at Virgin Mobile, 15% off extra plans with this Vodafone promo, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. So what exactly happened to Cotten, and is he still alive somewhere sitting on a mountain of stolen crypto? It stated that Gerald Cotten committed fraud by opening accounts under aliases and crediting himself with fictitious currency and crypto asset balances, which he traded with unsuspecting clients and that "What happened at Quadriga was an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology. Did Cotten fake his own death, investors began to ask, absconding to lands anew under a new name and a surgically rejigged face? All Filters. The documentary follows a group of Quadriga investors turned sleuths who dig into the suspicious death of Cotten and the millions of missing cryptocurrency they believe Cotten stole from them, according to a tweet from Netflix announcing the film. Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Je [33], Cotten's will was signed 27 November 2018, twelve days before he allegedly died.
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