Tether.bet licence relied on property document contradicted by UK records, investigation finds

An investigation by Democracy for Sale and The Times has found that financial evidence used in Tether.bet’s Curaçao licensing process included a document linking its declared owner to a £3.75 million London property sale that UK Land Registry records do not support. The discrepancy raises direct questions about the financial checks behind a licence that the crypto-gambling site presented as proof of regulatory approval before it closed in August 2026.

The licensing records identified Malaysian accountant Hon Kong Yong as the owner behind Tether.bet. According to the investigation, Yong submitted paperwork connected to the May 2020 sale of a property in Kensington as evidence that he had sufficient wealth to finance the gambling business.

But the people recorded in the actual transaction told the journalists they did not know him. A retired French couple listed as the sellers told The Times they had never met or heard of Yong, while the Swiss banker listed as the buyer told Democracy for Sale the same. The investigation therefore described the property document used in the licensing process as one that appears to have been faked; no court or regulator has publicly ruled that the document was forged.

Financial evidence was already incomplete

The property document mattered because Curaçao officials were assessing whether the ultimate beneficial owner could fund the operation.

In an April 2024 source-of-funds submission, Yong declared an annual salary of £40,000 and a net worth of £8 million, attributing that wealth to savings, cryptocurrency investments, his accountancy business, pension income and property sales. The journalists also reported that he had been declared bankrupt in 2016 and had supplied an uncertified Revolut statement showing roughly €50,000.

The business plan said Yong would personally contribute $350,000, with further funding expected from shareholder or third-party loans. Internal compliance notes cited by the investigation recorded that evidence of those loan agreements had not been supplied. Even so, the licensing assessment concluded that the beneficial owner had sufficient resources to fund the business.

The Curaçao Gaming Authority’s official register dated October 20, 2026 still lists GT Holding B.V., company number 156734, under B2C licence OGL/2024/898/0783. The entry shows an expiry date of September 12, 2026 and the status “Assessment in progress.” Tether.bet itself had already stopped operating, posting a closure notice on August 12.

For players, the case is a reminder that the presence of an offshore licence is not the same thing as proof that every ownership and source-of-funds document behind that licence has been independently verified. Where a licence is being used as a trust signal, the quality of the regulator’s due diligence matters as much as the logo or licence number displayed by the operator.

Curaçao approval did not authorise UK gambling

Tether.bet had also faced a separate licensing issue in Great Britain. Earlier reporting said the site accepted betting payments involving UK companies despite not holding a Gambling Commission licence. Under Gambling Commission rules, an overseas operator still needs a British operating licence if it provides remote gambling facilities to consumers in England, Scotland or Wales.

In August, Labour chair Bridget Phillipson asked the Gambling Commission to investigate whether Tether.bet and a related payments business had provided or supported unlicensed gambling services to UK consumers. That request was an appeal for regulatory scrutiny, not a finding that an offence had occurred.

George Cottrell, a close associate of Nigel Farage who had been linked to Tether.bet in earlier reporting, denies any ownership or management role. His lawyers told Democracy for Sale that he had never been a shareholder, director, employee or consultant of the business and said his relationship with Tether.bet was limited to being a customer and a friend of its owner. Democracy for Sale explicitly said there was no suggestion that Cottrell was involved in the Curaçao licensing process.