The QuadrigaCX case, which has already taken several strange twists since blowing up earlier this year, looks set to sign off the year with the strangest yet – lawyers have asked Canadian authorities to exhume the body of founder Gerald Cotten to confirm the cause of death. Cotten’s death has been under suspicion ever since it was known he disappeared with access to the exchange’s wallets, with many claiming he faked his death and is living off the proceeds.
Users Seeking to Confirm Identity and Cause of Death
The shock news was released late Friday when the legal team representing QuadrigaCX’s users sent a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police asking for an exhumation and post-mortem autopsy on Cotten’s body in order to confirm “both its identity and the cause of death”. They claim that information revealed during the investigation into Cotten’s death highlighted the need for “certainty around the question of whether Mr Cotten is in fact deceased”.
Cotten’s widow Jennifer Robertson, who as executor of his will has been heavily involved in court proceedings this year, stated through her lawyer that she was “heartbroken” to learn of the request. Those who think that Robertson is more heavily involved than she says however will believe that she is feeling more worried than heartbroken, as any irregularities in Cotten’s autopsy report could flag up her involvement.
Have Rumors of Cotten’s Death Been Greatly Exaggerated?
Cotten allegedly died in India in December 2018, just weeks after marrying Robertson, with complications surrounding his Crohn’s disease listed as the official cause of death. However, with QuadrigaCX now revealed to have been in severe financial difficulties before and at the time of his death, many have suggested that Cotten fraudulently obtained a death certificate and is living under an assumed name and waiting for Robertson to join him in a foregin country.
It is now known that at least four independent active law enforcement or regulatory agencies, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, are reviewing the platform’s demise and the events surrounding it, so it’s safe to say that the truth will out.
