But when co-founder Cotten died during a honeymoon in India, the money was seemingly lost forever. Uncertainty about the missing funds has fueled speculation that Cotten may still be alive. A C$24.7 million disbursement fund has been planned with C$300,000 to go to Cotten's widow, Jennifer Robertson, who advanced that amount to start the court proceedings; C$200,000 will go to Ernst & Young and another C$250,000 to its lawyers; C$229,842 will go to Quadriga's lawyers; and C$17,000 to independent contractors. [38][39], According to some of Cotten's family members, there was a crypto "Dead man's switch" that would provide Quadriga with operating information in the event of his death; however, "neither the monitor nor others involved with the organization are aware of a dead-man switch email having been received. Finally, the OSC discovered something that cracked the case wide open. [48], On 5 February 2019, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Michael J. November 28, 2022 by Nurudeen. The thing about conspiracy theories, though, is that they mutate out of control very quickly, and arent always reflective of the latest evidence. It was alleged that Patryn was involved in a money-laundering ring under a different nameOmar Dhanani. Official investigations into the matter have yet to produce any definitive answers. , initially diagnosed Cotten with little more than travelers diahrrea, but kept him in hospital just in case. Even after Cotten's death news, some people still believe that he is alive, and one of the main reasons is because of his mysterious death. It is highly unusual for only a single executive to be the one with access to a company's fund, further muddying the waters around what happened to Cotten. Quadriga had four employees in 2015 with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, but ran out of money by June 2015. [33] Aaron Matthews served as Director of Operations. The OSC. Investors tried to pull their money from Quadriga, but sometimes faced month-long delays. The OSC tugged on the same thread, but neither could get hold of him. [9][10], The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were reportedly investigating the company. lets break it all down. The teen, a bright computer enthusiast from Belleville, Ontario, ran the operation on an online forum called TalkGold . - Watch Full Details ! Quadriga CX was left owning its 76,000 investors around $215million (CAD). 4 people named Gerald Betzen found in California, Texas and Massachusetts. Mr Patryn pled guilty in 2005 to working in an identity fraud ring, and did business under a company called Midas Gold as an intermediary with Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rican digital currency firm busted as one of the largest money laundering operations in history. https://bit.ly/3cAIH4j Newest Vid's https:. Fake trading: I'm almost certain that he was trading with fake crypto, Chris Markay was one of the accounts that Cotten used to trade his "crypto" he also is known to have other aliases Sceptre Gerry, Aretwo Deetwo and Seethree Peaohh. Gerald Cotten had an estimated net worth of $80 million at the time of his death. I ended up losing my life savings I lost $400,000, Tong Zou, a tech worker quoted in the film, says. ", He added: "We thought we were looking for basically a rich guy who had stolen money, Now either [Cotten is] dead, or if hes alive, hes a gambling addict whos broke.". Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten | FAKE Behind 'Hunt For The Crypto King' Netflix | Where Are They Now?Subscribe Here! "It did become an obsession.. But months later, customers still couldnt take their money out. To add credence to the theory that he faked his own death and is still alive, Bloomberg reported that the crypto exchange founder filed his will just 12 days before he apparently died. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. The 33-year-old has attempted to get his money back in a lawsuit, but hasn't had any luck as yet. Some also believe that Gerald isnt even dead at all but rather hiding away with the hundreds of millions of dollars he controlled. It comes as we revealed some of the world's biggest crypto scams following the case of Bitcoin tradersRaees Cajee, 21 and Ameer, 18,who fledSouth Africa after allegedly pocketing 2.5billion. Netflix has seen a boom with its true-crime docuseries, from 'Tiger King' to 'Making a Murderer.' Jilted investors of Cotton's crypto firm QuadrigaCX have demanded his corpse be exhumed and tests run to confirm its his body. 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. His clients were locked out of about $250 million, and investigators later. It certainly started to look like fraud, said one anonymous investor in the doc. Bankruptcy trustees have managed to recover around $34million from Quadriga and $12million in assests from Cotten's estate - but the rest remains locked away in the digital world of crypto. Cotten told a Globe and Mail reporter that the banks, which didnt trust crypto exchanges, had frozen the exchanges bank accounts. Mom 'stabs 3 of her kids to death and wounds 2 others in unsupervised visit', Daughter of murdered couple linked to Delphi case reveals paranoia, Serena Williams stepmom's debts continue to spiral amid crumbling home battle, Alex Murdaugh looks unrecognizable in new mugshot hours after sentencing, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP. A big chunk of it was given to him by his parents. 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. [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. Robertsons sister, for the record, doesnt think that Cotten had fabricated his relationship with Jennifer. He would then use this crypto to make investments himself on other digital exchanges as he furnished his own pockets at the expense of his investors, according to accounting firm Ernst & Young. The user said that he left the company in 2016, and that the company was legitimate at the time. The sudden death of Gerald Cotten in December 2018 plunged the world of cryptocurrency into chaos. Quadriga's accounts are estimated to have held 190million ($250million). 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. Image Credit: CTV Your Morning/YouTube. 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. Here Is Why People Think Gerald Cotten Is Still Alive. Gerald Cotten. [21], Throughout 2018, as Bitcoin prices crashed, customers of the exchange reported delays when attempting to withdraw dollars. thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. A bitcoin mining operation in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec. Then, out of the blue, one Mike Patryn joined the Telegram group that investors were using to discuss conspiracies. Tong Zou is one of thousands of customers left seriously out of pocket following Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten's mysterious death in 2018 at the age of 30. Cotton's sudden death from complications of Crohn's disease aged 30 shocked the crypto world - but many believe he may have faked his death in an elaborate "exit scam". Then it emerged that Jennifer had legally changed her name three times in the past few years, and a man sharing one of her former last names was at the center of an unsolved murder case. Miller Thomson LLP sent a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Friday, requesting authorities conduct an exhumation and postmortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten, founder of QuadrigaCX, citing what the firm called the questionable circumstances around his death earlier this year. , and found an affidavit from Robertson saying that she didnt understand how QuadrigaCX operatedeven though one of Robertsons companies later wired cash to some of Quadrigas customers. "I couldn't get any sleep. Indian authorities maintain that Cotten, whose body was repatriated to Nova Scotia for a small closed-casket funeral, died on Dec. 9, 2018, shortly after checking into a luxury hotel in Jaipur. goes to Cottens hospital in India to put the whole fake death thing to bed. Exit Scam host Aaron Lammer told CoinDesk: "My read was that, on some level, Gerry was addicted to scamming, "Addicted to stealing peoples money. More than three years after the sudden death of Quadriga CEO Gerald Cotten and the revelations that the company was a massive cryptocurrency scam, his widow, Jennifer Robertson, tells her side of the story.#Quadriga #GeraldCotten #BitcoinWatch The National live on YouTube Sunday-Friday at 9 p.m. ETSubscribe to The National: https://www.youtube.com/user/CBCTheNational?sub_confirmation=1Connect with The National online:Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thenationalTwitter | https://twitter.com/CBCTheNationalInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/cbcthenationalMore from CBC News | https://www.cbc.ca/newsThe National is CBC's flagship nightly news program, featuring the day's top stories with in-depth and original journalism, with hosts Adrienne Arsenault and Andrew Chang in Toronto, Ian Hanomansing in Vancouver and the CBC's chief political correspondent, Rosemary Barton in Ottawa. 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. Cotten had allegedly told his wife he would create a mechanism that would allow her to access all of his crypto-related passwords should he die but. Jennifer, scared for her safety, entered a safe house. Where was the rest of the money? Supposedly, Cottens business associates didnt even know he was married. A big chunk of it was given to him by his parents. [51], A documentary titled Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery about the story of Gerald Cotten premiered at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohns disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. Mr Cotten, 30 at the time of his death, seemed to be living the dream life of a financial titan. Retrieved 18 January 2022. Reported by Fansided, Globe and Mail journalist Nathan Vanderklippe spoke to Dr. Sharma, who dealt with Cotten when he came into the hospital. The laptop computer from which Gerry carried out the companies business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere, she said in court filings. [34][35], On 14 January 2019,[36] Quadriga announced that their CEO, Gerald Cotten, had died the month prior from Crohn's disease while doing volunteer work at an orphanage in India. The thing is, a CEOs death shouldnt lock customers out of their money. Gerald Gerry Cotten is the founder of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga Fintech Solutions and is at the helm of a groundbreaking investment scam that the Netflix documentary investigates. His death sparked online debates and string theories on Reddit and. His body was embalmed and sent back to Canada for a closed-casket funeral. Its the swindler story you havent heard of until now. California (2) Massachusetts (1) Texas (2) Refine Your Search Results. [19] Other than a few contractors, it had no employees, offices or bank accounts thereafter. Dhanani also had pleaded guilty to burglary and grand theft charges and had been deported to Canada. So, Patryn: shit-stirrer, criminal mastermind or another one beguiled by Cotten? The death, and the resulting collapse of Quadriga, set off a score of government and citizen investigations into how so much digital currency could be spirited away. [42], Quadriga continued to accept deposits until 26 January. Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten died in 2018, taking password to access funds with him Credit: Netflix. Lawyers for customers of an insolvent cryptocurrency exchange have asked police to exhume the body of the companys founder, amid efforts to recover about $190m in Bitcoin which were locked in an online black hole after his death. The dude literally said that comment as a complete joke, and I even . ET. Cotten was young, energetic, passionate about cryptocurrency so when. The business was run from Cotten's encrypted laptop from Cotten's home in Fall River, Nova Scotia. I took out three loans from the bank and put it all into crypto. The doctor, reported the Globe, initially diagnosed Cotten with little more than travelers diahrrea, but kept him in hospital just in case. He graduated from York with a bachelor of business administration in 2010. In January 2014 they installed the second Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver. More than three years after the sudden death of Quadriga CEO Gerald Cotten and the revelations that the company was a massive cryptocurrency scam, his widow,. His body was repatriated to Canada and a funeral was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Netflix's 'Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King' explores the story of Gerald Cotten, founder and CEO of Canadian crypto exchange business QuadrigaCX, whose passed away unexpectedly in 2018. He hopes the Netflix doc will get authorities to "move their asses and do something about it" but also to raise awareness "so it doesn't happen to other people".