Bitcoin Widow by Jennifer Robertson with Stephen Kimber
Jennifer Robertson, wife of Gerry Cotten, debuts Bitcoin Widow: Love Betrayal and the Missing Millions. Netflix’s Trust No One The Hunt for the Crypto King Brought Me Here!
Backstory
There once was a young Canadian man by the name of Gerry Cotten. He owned a website where people could buy and sell bitcoin in Canada. His company was called Quadriga CX. In 2018, people started to report that they were having difficulty getting paid for the bitcoin that they sold on Quadriga’s website. In early January 2019, Jennifer Robertson, Gerry’s wife announced that Gerry had died while in India. She also delivered devastating news: Gerry died with all of the passcodes so everyone who put in money or who had bitcoin with Quadriga was out of luck, approximately $190 million.
Further investigation showed that Gerry had started Quadriga with a person by the name of Omar Dhanani who was convicted on identity theft charges.
At some point the Canadian authorities became involved. They discovered that Gerry was actually involved in a scheme where he was using his customers’ funds to invest in highly speculative investments. He lost their money, and that was the reason that he could not pay the funds owed to people in 2018.
Now, the question is: Is Gerry Cotten really dead?
He goes on vacation immediately when his scheme is crashing down, and he clearly knows at least one person who was involved in identity theft. There are surgeries that can defeat facial recognition. If you remember The Tinder Swindler (also on Netflix), the scammer tried to obtain this surgery, and the plastic surgery denied him because “only criminals want that type of surgery.”
He lost $150 million in his scheme, but the last time I checked $190 million less $150 million equals $40 million which is still a lot of money. Oh and did I mention that he executed a will just 12 days before his “death”?
Did Gerry run off with $40 million and a new identity as his scheme was crumbling down around him?
Let’s go my armchair detectives! FYI Spoilers Coming Up!
The “Death”
According to Jennifer Robertson, the wife of Gerry Cotten, Gerry passed away on December 9, 2018 while on a trip to India. His cause of death was related to Crohn’s Disease.
In the book, Jennifer Robertson states that they stayed at the Oberoi Rajvilas, a five-star luxury hotel. According to my internet sleuthing, there is a 24-hour doctor on call.
However, instead of calling on the hotel doctor, soon-to-be Bitcoin Widow, Jennifer calls up the front desk asking for the best hospital and an ambulance after Gerry complained of stomach pain.
After the hotel arranged transportation, the hospital admitted him and welcomed into a private room. The initial diagnosis was food poisoning. The doctors started an IV and administered additional medications.
The next day, Gerry took a turn for the worst. Gerry went into cardiac arrest and had two smaller “episodes”. Then, his heart failed at 7:26 pm on December 9, 2018. His official cause of death was listed as “sudden cardiac arrest” with a final diagnosis of “Septic Shock/Peritonitis/Intestinal Obstruction.”
What Points to Gerry Cotten Being Alive
Gerry had motive, means, and opportunity to fake his own death.
As far as motive, Gerry’s financial scheme was falling apart. He was going to lose everything and go to prison. Gerry was even behind on the rental payments at the airfield where he stored his private plane. Additionally, Gerry had several safes in his home. Both of which were empty.
Gerry mentioned possibly moving to Malta and obtaining a European passport. Additionally, Gerry’s former business partner was involved in an online identity theft ring.
Gerry very conveniently executed his will 12 days before his “death.”
Someone on the Netflix documentary stated that Gerry’s Skype camera was in use after his death.
Gerry had a closed-casket funeral, and his death certificate has his name misspelled. According to the Netflix documentary, it is possible to obtain a fake death certificate.
The first embalmer refused to undertake the task because the hotel staff transported the body and couldn’t provide all of the information she wanted to know in advance. What a full-service hotel!
What Points to Gerry Cotten Being Dead
Although some of the safes were empty, one other safe contained $75,000.
According to the Netflix documentary, an investigative reporter flew to India and spoke to the doctor who worked on Gerry Cotten. He confirmed the death.
I spoke to one of my sources, someone who has Crohn’s Disease and is also a registered nurse.
“Can you really die of sepsis if you are in a hospital, and they immediately push antibiotics?”
“People die of sepsis despite multiple antibiotics all the time. I see it frequently in the ICU where I work. And having a perforated bowel can absolutely cause severe septic shock that can lead to death.”
“Yes, that stuff is plausible. Especially with how people can get weird intestinal bacteria when they travel, bacteria their immune system hasn’t developed antibodies for. People with Crohn’s are at higher risk for perforation if they’ve had flair ups.”
Alcohol and stress can also cause Crohn’s flair ups. Gerry Cotten has drinking, in a foreign country, highly stressed as his scheme was falling apart, and he had a history of previous flair ups.
After Jerry died, Jennifer had to decide whether to file for creditor protection or bankruptcy. According to the Bitcoin Widow, because she believed that it was only a matter of time before the funds were located, she decided to file for creditor protection instead of bankruptcy. She lent $490,000 to Quadriga from her personal accounts and never recovered.
Jennifer Robertson did not walk away with millions. The settlement left her with only $90,000, a $20,000 retirement account, her Jeep, and some personal effects (not even her wedding ring). Gerry did not leave a life insurance policy.
Conclusion
Listen, I love a good conspiracy theory more than John Munch of Law and Order SVU, but Gerry Cotten is dead. He had a history of Crohn’s Disease, and he had the perfect storm of circumstances to lead to a flair up.
Many investors are still suffering though, and they deserve some peace with an exhumation. But let’s not forget that Jennifer Robertson is a real person with feelings, someone who lost her husband, and lost her home.
Bitcoin Widow was awesome! It was extremely interesting, changed my mind about the case, and the ghost writer made this read like a dream (hat’s off to Stephen Kimber!). Bitcoin Widow was really well done.