Three Men Jailed for Posing as Police in $5.3M UK Crypto Fraud

According to the Metropolitan Police, three men were jailed on Thursday in the UK for a £4 million ($5.3 million) cryptocurrency fraud in which they posed as police officers to trick eight victims into handing over their crypto holdings. Anthony Ikenwe, 29, and Kevin Nwamma, 25, were each sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit fraud and five years for money laundering, while Hamza Bashir, 23, received three years and nine months for fraud and three years for laundering.

The gang built convincing fake police websites and used phone calls to convince victims their crypto was at risk, then stole the funds and laundered them through a complex network. Stolen crypto was spent on Rolexes, luxury shopping at Harrods and Hermès, and holidays across the Maldives, Thailand and Japan. Police have recovered around £1 million linked to victims and continue tracing additional assets.