WebWhen Bitcoin CEO Gerald Cotten died at 30, $271 million of cash and cryptocurrency disappeared too, sparking some dark theories. Mr. Cotten and Ms. Robertson planned to leave Jaipur for Hyderabad on Dec. 12 and spend the night at the ITC Kohenur, a five-star hotel overlooking a lake in the southern city, which has become a high-tech metropolis. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. He built his company from the ground up, Ms. Robertson wrote in an e-mail to Angel House. On a recent evening, the children sat on the floor in perfect lines, quietly doing homework and giggling at a visitor. According to court documents, QuadrigaCX CEO Gerald Cotten died Dec. 9, 2018, in India due to complications from Crohn's disease. Photo by Handout. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196590362/gerald-william-cotten. He was hardworking and passionate, with an unwavering commitment to his customers, employees, and family., It added: Through his hard work and dedication, Gerry contributed greatly to the growth and development of the Crypto Currency industry. Cotten's sudden death in 2018 led to the disappearance of millions of dollars worth of his investors' Bitcoin funds. That guy told me the body will come from the hotel. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Flying is a perishable skill. All of these have reported withdrawal issues in the recent past. After he died, the exchange tried, but could not, find significant cryptocurrency reserves, BBC reported. Gerald Cotten died mysteriously with a large sum of money in his bank account, leaving everything to his wife. The couple lived in a three-bedroom in Fall River, north of Halifax, a rich suburb only recently carved out of a forest near a long dark lake, the Vanity Fair article reports, adding that he also owned two other homes and 14 rental properties throughout Canada. In his capacity as CEO, he shared his passion and expertise in digital finance with his management team to successfully grow QuadrigaCX into one of the largest exchange platforms for Crypto Currency in Canada. Representative Counsel respectfully requests that this process be completed by Spring of 2020, given decomposition concerns, the letter states. Signs of Mr. Cottens wealth occasionally appeared as well at his childhood home in Belleville, a Southern Ontario city of 50,000 located at the mouth of the Moira River. According to CBC, what caused concern: Cotten died with sole knowledge of passwords used to encrypt cold wallets offline storage devices of various cryptocurrencies. based on information from your browser. But, he noted, it can happen. Donors want to see their money being used. Everyone on their tree-lined street pitches in for snow-removal services, and they take turns picking up each others mail. How did Gerald Cotten die? She said he did not fly his plane at all during her time as manager. Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly in December of 2018, but don't try telling that to the people who lost millions worth of cryptocurrency as a result. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 2023 CoinReview | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy. He has also yet to receive the stuffed bears that Ms. Robertson had brought for the grand opening. Where Is Gerald Cotten Buried, Is He Really Dead? The pair became friendly. We have set your language to I said: Why the hotel? That itself is a bit of a red flag. On December 8, 2018, the 30-year-old was rushed to a local hospital sometime in the evening. I was asked to embalm his body and I refused, she said. CoinReview.com publishes content that is intended strictly for the purpose of informing the reader. Transport Canada records show the Cessna 400 was registered in February of that year by a company called Megacorp Inc., which has a Toronto mailing address and is connected to Mr. Cotten. Try again later. Some of these users had very large balances on the exchange with one user apparently having up to $70 million worth of cryptocurrency on the exchange. Arriving guests are greeted by staff who offer chilled towels and flutes of a sandalwood rosewater infusion. He was 30-years-old. Mr. Cotten spent the night in a private room, where Ms. Robertson also stayed. - Mixedarticle GREAT NEWS! This is where, on Dec. 13, Rama Rao Cherukupalli had erected a tent for a grand opening ceremony outside a small new concrete building, painted mint green with orange trim. And when The Globe visited the Cottens house on a snowy weekday morning, the driveway was unshovelled and no one answered the door. The interior was spartan, but spotless. The latest moves in crypto markets, in context. A junior staffer processed Mr. Cottens body, and SMS issued an embalming certificate at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 10. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. There is a problem with your email/password. Source: cbc.ca. There was just one problem: he is officially dead and buried, following a Other hospitals in Jaipur are grim places, with bathrooms that have no soap and patients milling about in hallways. It was a very natural case. If he perforated [his bowel] well, people can get really sick really fast.. We shifted him to the intensive-care unit immediately, Dr. Sharma said. Try again later. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/crohns-disease/, https://business.financialpost.com/technology/blockchain/how-gerald-cotten-built-quadriga-and-created-the-ensuing-crypto-storm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoONbIak_2I, https://news.sky.com/story/crypto-trader-boss-dies-with-password-to-clients-110m-11628106, Reasons Cryptocurrencies Are Becoming Increasing Popular, How to Avoid Losing In Cryptocurrency Trading Business, Challenges Facing Crypto Exchanges & How to Solve Them, Trading Overbought and Oversold Market Conditions Properly. Gerald Cotten was cremated and his ashes were dumped into a river in India and to make it even better he filed a will 12 days before his death. The college is located in a low-slung building that opens to a verdant inner courtyard, where corridors are lined with biographies of Nobel laureates and other medical notables, including Hippocrates. but if the worst rumors prove to be true and the scammers get caught maybe some people will get a bit of their money back assuming that the lawyers are not able to get it out of the laptop. Mr. Cotten had vomited 10 times, reported 15 episodes of watery stools, had experienced crampy abdominal pain and some back discomfort, was feverish and had a background of Crohns disease, according to a death report prepared by Dr. Sharma. He may have had septic shock. Learn more about merges. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. At 2:45 p.m., Mr. Cotten went into cardiac arrest. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Gerald William Gerry Cotten I found on Findagrave.com. Now there's a request to exhume his body. He may have perforated his bowel. Mr. Cotten did not respond to her e-mails, but was quick on text communications. And then you stop flying altogether.. She said that the company didnt possess a significant amount of its Ethereum to make it liquid and the cold storage Ethereum addresses may not have existed at all. Still, Mr. Cotten died under circumstances that Dr. Sharma and a local embalmer who refused to prepare his body for transport from India found unusual, and the details The Globe uncovered about his final hours only add to the enigma surrounding Mr. Cotten. Fifty-five minutes later, they arrived at the Oberoi, where guards salute visitors and lead them to an entrance where water burbles down a stone channel into a basin filled with rose petals, a fragrant homage to the nearby palace that was a royal residence for centuries of maharajas. He spent the night in the hospital but then deteriorated suddenly. In mid-January, she sent an e-mail to Angel House, saying she hoped she could still visit the orphanage one day and acknowledging receipt of some pictures from Venkatapuram. Shutterstock Images. Dr. Sharma listed the cause as sudden cardiac arrest stemming from a perforation. It was considered medically unusual according to the doctor because he got sick so fast. And the materials were insufficient there was enough for walls and furnishings, but not enough to complete the roof, equip the kitchen or install interior doors. in Debert, N.S., a dont-blink-or-youll-miss-it farming community about 100 kilometres northwest of Halifax. Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation. Medically speaking, he was stable. Its a tragic situation when someone dies, a company goes under, thousands of people lose their cryptocurrencies and thousands of bitcoin disappear forever. The Disappearance of Gerald Cotten. Founder of Quadriga Fintech Solutions, the owner and operator of QuadrigaCXSon of Bruce and Cheryl Cotten. Whats highly suspicious and insane here is that they did not have a multi-signature wallet set up for $190 million worth of customers cryptocurrency. He was a very reasonable person. With so many coincidences its crazy. He said Mr. Cotten had died of a heart attack, but he had no other documentation and couldnt answer Dr. Mehras questions about whether the dead man had suffered from AIDS, or cancer or other ailments. While Ms. Robertson has assisted the Quadriga Affected Users in the recovery of assets, and has cooperated fully with Ernst & Youngs investigation, it is not clear how the exhumation or an autopsy to confirm the cause of Gerrys death from complications arising from his Crohns disease would assist the asset recovery process further," the statement said. but he casually forgot to include any information about how to release the $190 million in user funds on his exchange which he had the sole access to. Then Gerald Cotten suddenly died, in December of 2018, from complications with Crohns disease. The mystery of Cottens death was finally put to rest when Nathan VanderKlippe, a journalist at Canadas Globe and Mail, traveled to The Co-founder Michael Patryn might be a famous conman going by the name of Omar Dhanani who is a convicted scammer. This is a carousel with slides. The brevity of Mr. Cotten and Mr. Robertsons itinerary was probably because of the honeymoon, he said. Although he did not know it at the time, Quadriga would become Canadas largest crypto exchange with Cotten solely at the head of affairs; he alone controlled the inflow and outflow of cash in the company which is now facing multiple litigations after his death. Fortis, located behind a high wall along a tree-lined street, is a more modern operation. I had no direct knowledge of how Gerry operated the business prior to his death, and was not aware of his improper actions, she said through a statement to CBC. You can always change this later in your Account settings. In that will Gerald Cotten accounted for things like his dogs to be taken care of, his house etc. In fact, Cryptocapital on the day of the announcement about QuadrigaCX delisted Bitfinex from their website. Thats the scale of money the guy had. The planes market price at the time was about half a million dollars. While Mr. Cotten ran Quadriga, Ms. Robertson worked as a property manager for Robertson Nova Property Management. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. At the time, Quadriga once Canada's biggest cryptocurrency exchange said it was unable to gain access to his digital assets. Ms. Sibley next attempted to text Mr. Cotten in mid-December. That Mr. Cotten did indeed die is a certainty among police and medical professionals in India, and The Globe reviewed hotel, hospital and embalming records that give no suggestion of anything abnormal. Gerald founded the Quadriga exchange at a time when Canada had no platform to buy and sell Bitcoin as the digital currency gained traction in Canada back in 2013. According to a Lengthy Vanity Fair profile. The report confirms that, after Cotten died, he essentially took the passwords to millions of dollars with him. The exchange has now filed for bankruptcy. In addition, he owned a single-engine airplane and a Lexus. Some time around noon the next day, with his condition little changed from the night before, hospital staff took Mr. Cotten for an ultrasound. As far as the cause of death is concerned, it is none of our business. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. Creditors of QuadrigaCX have asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to exhume and conduct an autopsy of the failed exchanges founder, Gerald Cotten. Our website services, content, and products are for informational purposes only. Before his sudden death, there were also quite a few reports of long delays in getting withdrawals. These may be just rumors or things that people are talking about right now when it comes down to whats going on with this exchange. As an expert in digital finance, he was involved with digital payments, currency, and transfers of electronic value for over a decade. A Vanity Fair article described how Gerald Cotten went by the name Gerry and had a girlfriend (and eventual wife) who was a property manager named Jennifer Robertson. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. They had a reservation at the Oberoi Rajvilas, a luxurious resort where peacock calls echo across the verdant grounds. The pictures, posted between January, 2016, and April, 2017, reveal a whirlwind travel schedule. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Robertson's attorney, Stewert McKelvey partner Richard Niedermayer, told CoinDesk in a statement that she was "heartbroken to learn of this request.". The self-professed lifelong travellers had recently been married, and the couple told the hotel they were coming to celebrate their nuptials in the Pink City, where marvels of historical architecture and riches collide with the pell-mell of life in modern India. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. Mr. Cherukupalli is a Christian pastor who began to care for local orphans two years ago, buying a tract of land and erecting a temporary shelter. But the third time he could not be revived, Dr. Sharma said. 115,000 users are left without their money and that is tragic. Anoop Singh is the station house officer for Jawahar Circle, which issued a certificate for Mr. Cotten clearing his death of suspicion of foul play. This is basically a 30-day stay of proceedings in a way to stop any lawsuits from proceedings against the company at this point. Others spend as many as three days at the orphanages their dollars have built. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk product updates, events and marketing and you agree to our, Weekend Story | Crypto Industry Needs More FTC, Less SEC, Multicoin Capitals Hedge Fund Lost 91.4% Last Year, Investor Letter Reveals, Headlines: Top Stories of the Week 02-27-23, The Hole on the FTX Balance Sheet Remains Gaping, asks for the authorities to dig up and examine, not allowing at least some customers to withdraw funds. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. So this proven identity scammer now have access to all this KYC information which would make it so easy for him to open up new accounts in other exchanges, cashing out using fake ids. But soon after, Mr. Cotten complained that he has got some pain in his stomach, said Anand Srivastava, Jaipurs police commissioner. Ms. Robertson agreed. Its rare for people to die of Crohns in recent years, mortality rates have declined, Dr. Feagan said. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Jennifer Robertson was the wife of Gerald Cotten, aka "The Crypto King," whose sudden death is the focus of Netflix's latest true-crime documentary "Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King." Thanks for your help! And Im suffering.. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Still, he did confirm that Mr. Cotten rarely flew the plane. In December 2018, Cotten died during his honeymoon with his wife, Jennifer Robertson, in Jaipur, India. While this is not the first crypto crisis since Bitcoin went mainstream, the situation does not bode well for the Canadian crypto industry as QuadrigaCX was Canadas biggest crypto exchange. Cottens death has been under suspicion since it was announced. His blood pressure and pulse were both normal. To this day, many experts continue to warn traders and investors against crypto trading for several reasons. Join our community to share stories, meet other affected users, get help with claim filing, or receive updates. But it didnt fly much.. Asked by the hotel to specify if they were travelling for a special occasion, she wrote: Our honeymoon.. The death certificate, obtained by The Globe, lists his address at time of death as the Oberoi Rajvilas. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Mr. Cotten's childhood home in Belleville, Ont.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail, The antiques store in Belleville operated by Mr. Cotten's parents sits shuttered.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. This article was published more than 4 years ago. The class of indicators that can be used to trad Advertisement Although, Cotten apparently meant well for his thousands of customers by personally handling their finances himself; it has apparently backfired as his legacy is being threatened. TimesNext Media Pvt Ltd does not provide advice or endorsement for any product. A guide to complicated crypto trading, Opinion: The crypto world is a dangerous place for ordinary investors, and regulators, Opinion: Lessons of Quadriga fiasco not as obvious as many think, The Amber Fort, a centuries-old royal residence that draws tourists to Jaipur.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail, Another of Jaipur's major tourist draws is the Hawa Mahal, an 18th-century palace.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail. He added that the hospital called the death a natural one, and we dont have any suspicion., Anand Srivastava, the police commissioner in Jaipur, says he can see nothing suspicious in the death of Mr. Cotten.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail. Any information you find on the website should not be treated as an offer for buying or selling or an invitation to purchase or sell any service, product, or anything else mentioned on the website. Yet even without their presence, the orphanage opened on Dec. 13, and Mr. Cherukupalli and his wife, Rajitha, are now taking care of a dozen children here. Hes just a mystery guy, she said. He was 30-years-old at the Arriving here they were, for a moment, a modern-day king and queen, the latest adventure for a couple whose lives were studded with signs of affluence. His wife didnt complain. They headed to Fortis Escorts Hospital, part of a private health-care chain. The charity tells donors they can build a 12-child home like this one from just US$21,350. Jaipur's privately owned Fortis Escorts Hospital. He now owes almost $11,000, equivalent to seven years of average income. The charity regularly posts to Facebook pictures and videos of people opening orphanages, surrounded by smiling children. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I revisited it many times in my mind. The customers who are being owed arent just crypto enthusiast or billionaires, they are ordinary people with bills and mortgages to pay. This suspicion is largely due to the fact that QuadrigaCX had been in dire straits for months before his death and Canadas crypto industry is still largely unregulated making investors nervous about this development. Failed to report flower. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? An image posted to Instagram shows the couple beaming at the Taj Mahal in Agra, one of the countrys best-known attractions. A hotel built as a modern-day palace, the Oberoi was ranked the second-best resort hotel in the country last year by Travel + Leisure, outranking even the citys actual palace, the Rambagh, where Jacqueline Kennedy once stayed. He went into cardiac arrest again and was resuscitated once more. This browser does not support getting your location. The antiques store in Belleville operated by Mr. Cotten's parents sits shuttered. We did everything we could, he said. The article described a glamorous life by a couple who traveled constantly, but also wanted to sponsor a home for orphans in India. One day, he was on his honeymoon, enjoying the opulence of Jaipur. He had an air of being successful, but he wasnt flashy, said the neighbours, all of whom declined to be named out of respect for the grieving family. The problem was that Cotten, who died at age 30, was the only person who had passwords to digital wallets containing C$180 million ($137m; 105m) in cryptocurrencies, according to BBC. They arranged for a luxury SUV to pick them up at the airport, where their flight was scheduled to touch down at 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2018. A body cant be removed from the country without it. A letter sent by law firm Miller Thomson to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) asks for the authorities to dig up and examine the body of Gerald Cotten, who reportedly died of complications due to Crohns disease at the end of December 2018. I am heart broken but trying to stay strong for him., In Debert, N.S., Mr. Cotten's Cessna 400 sits at the Truro Flying Club.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. What happened to him is a mystery with profound consequences, not only for users whose life savings hang in the balance, but also for the future of Canadas trade in digital currencies, an unregulated industry whose lack of investor protections has been exposed in ghastly fashion by Mr. Cottens passing. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. This adds to the fishiness of this whole story. Children do homework at the orphanage in Venkatapuram.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail, A boy stands near bunkbeds at the orphanage.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail. Please reset your password. The background material was not shared. Ms. Robertson said although she had her husbands laptop, she had no access to it even after hiring a specialist to crack it open. He also used the name Omar Patryn in a forfeiture case. The reality at the end depending upon what the investigation turns up may prove to be different. Cottens death would probably not have caused so much international uproar if he had not apparently gone to the grave with millions of investor cash. When Ms. Sibley took over as manager in December, 2017, part of her job involved figuring out who Mr. Cotten was and why he wasnt paying his bills. Early the next day, representatives of Angel House, a California-based charity that has built 191 orphanages in India, planned to pick them up in a Toyota Innova and drive them east, passing the entrance to Ramoji Film City, the worlds largest studio, past rice paddies with egrets and water buffalo perhaps even past a colourful religious procession with transgender dancers offering praise to the Hindu goddess Poleramma. Thousands of people lost their money and this documentary also tells their story. This situation may ultimately provide the background for a stricter regulation of the Canadian crypto industry. Little is known about Ms. Robertson, who appears to have used three different surnames since she began buying real estate in Nova Scotia with Mr. Cotten in 2016. Quadriga released a statement on Jan. 14 saying Mr. Cotten had gone to India to open an orphanage to provide a home and safe refuge for children in need.. SMS Medical College in Jaipur, India, is where Gerald Cotten's body was embalmed. The board had issued a statement[5] explaining that they had been working to address the liquidity issues of the exchange including attempts to locate and secure very significant cryptocurrency reserves held in cold wallets and required to satisfy customer cryptocurrency balances on deposit; the statement also mentioned that the exchange was sourcing for a financial institution to accept bank drafts transferred to them.