An aide to former UKIP leader Nigel Farage faces blackmail and money laundering charges in the US.
George Cottrell was arrested as part of an FBI sting operation on 22 July at Chicago’s O’Hare airport as he attempted to return to the UK with Farage.
He stands accused of 21 counts in relation to to money laundering, fraud, blackmail, and extortion.
A federal indictment issued in the US state of Arizona alleges that Cottrell, using the online pseudonym “Bill”, agreed to launder purported drug proceeds in 2014 by transferring them to offshore bank accounts. He then allegedly met with undercover agents in Las Vegas and arranged the transfer of $20,000 (£15,000) to an associate.
The indictment goes on to claim that Cottrell attempted to blackmail the undercover agents by threatening to report them to police unless they paid him 130 Bitcoin, then worth around $80,000 (£62,000).
He was arrested in Chicago after attending the US Republican Party convention in Cleveland, Ohio, as he was about to travel back to the UK.
A judge denied him bail because he posed a “serious risk of flight”.
A UKIP spokesperson described Cottrell as “an unpaid and enthusiastic volunteer”, but said that the allegations stemmed from “before he was directly involved in the party”.
