The man behind the Democratic Unionist Party’s mysterious £435,000 Brexit donation has found himself caught up in a scandal involving a bankrupted British businessman, a convicted American fraudster, Texan oil wells, Scottish international footballers and investors out of pocket to the tune of at least £1.3 million.
Richard Cook signed a deed of trust between a Scottish company known as HGEC Capital Ltd and a Texan oil firm run by a convicted fraudster, an investigation by openDemocracy and the Sunday National can reveal.
Both companies have now gone into administration.
