UK Court Sentences 4 Men to 15 Years for $26M Crypto Fraud

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Four men have been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a UK court for fraudulently obtaining and laundering bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies worth around $26 million from an Australian crypto exchange , the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said last week.

Stephen William Boys, Kelly Caton, Jordan Kane Robinson and James Austin-Beddoes were convicted of fraud, conversion and transfer of criminal property at Preston Crown Court, Lancashire, UK.

The four men worked with James Parker who “orchestrated the plot from his home in Blackpool over a period of three months between October 2017 and January 2018”, the statement said.

Parker had exploited a loophole in the trading platform that allowed him and his associates to acquire the funds. Parker died in January 2021.

These offenders used the internet from the comfort of their homes to obtain tens of millions of pounds worth of bitcoin that did not belong to them,” said CPS’s Jonathan Kelleher.

Crypto fraud in the UK has soared by a third to more than $270 million in a year, according to data released in November by UK police unit Action Fraud. In January, the country’s top crime agency posted a job advert for a cryptocurrency investigator, and British police now have crypto experts stationed across the country.

Read more: UK police have crypto experts stationed across the country

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