Four UK nationals have been sentenced for fraudulently obtaining and laundering bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies valued at tens of millions of pounds from an Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange.
Stephen William Boys, 58, Kelly Caton, 44, Jordan Kane Robinson, 23, and James Austin-Beddoes, 27, were found guilty of fraud, converting, and transferring criminal property at Preston Crown Court and received a total sentence of 15 years.
The group was connected to James Parker, who orchestrated the scheme from his home in Blackpool over a three-month period between October 2017 and January 2018. Parker, who passed away in 2021, exploited a loophole in the cryptocurrency trading platform to secure credits worth £21 million.
During the three months, Parker withdrew crypto assets valued at £15 million from his trading account. His associates, Caton and Robinson, illegitimately withdrew £2.7 million and £1.7 million, respectively, from their accounts.
Boys, Parker’s financial adviser, collaborated with Kambi, a UK national residing in Dubai, to convert the cryptocurrency into cash, which was subsequently laundered through various foreign-based online accounts.
The pace of their earnings allowed Parker to buy cars for strangers and distribute £5,000 vouchers to manage the proceeds, as reported by Lancashire Police.
A significant portion of the laundered assets has either been returned or is in the process of recovery on behalf of the unidentified Australian cryptocurrency exchange.
Jonathan Kelleher from the Crown Prosecution Service stated, “These offenders utilized the internet from the comfort of their own homes to obtain tens of millions of pounds worth of Bitcoin that did not belong to them. Cyber-enabled crime poses an escalating threat to international economic stability and to honest individual investors in cryptocurrency.”
He added, “Meticulous analysis of vast amounts of digital material and cooperation with Australian and Finnish authorities facilitated a successful prosecution against these criminals.”