Four men have been convicted for fraudulently obtaining and laundering crypto assets worth 21 million pounds ($25.2 million) from an Australian crypto exchange.
Four Convicted for $25.2M Crypto Fraud
According to a report by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Friday, the criminals – Stephen William Boys, Kelly Caton, Jordan Kane Robinson, and James Austin-Beddoes – conspired to carry out the scheme between October 2017 and January 2018. The investigation stated that the four men also worked with the now-deceased James Parker during the period.
Parker, who was the mastermind of the scheme, identified and exploited a loophole in the crypto exchange trading platform, which made him and the other four men gain access to it and pulled out $25.2 million from the exchange.
Mr. Boys, the gang’s financial adviser, reached out to Kambi, a UK citizen based in Dubai, to help them convert the stolen crypto assets into cash before being laundered through several foreign-based online accounts, then sharing the proceeds among themselves.
During the period, Parker withdrew 15 million pounds ($18.1 million) from his trading account, and Caton and Robinson withdrew 2.7 million pounds ($3.2 million) and 1.7 million pounds ($2.4 million) from their accounts respectively.
The CPS noted that a large amount of the stolen crypto assets has been recovered from the fraudsters.
Parker died in January 2021 before being prosecuted by the court. The CPS said it has worked with specialist officers from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit “to identify the assets obtained through his unlawful conduct and to obtain a Civil Recovery Order in the High Court with the estimated value of nearly £1,000,000.”
Crypto Fraud on the Rise
As crypto continues to rise and edge closer to mainstream adoption, fraudsters have targeted the asset class as a tool to conduct all kinds of fraudulent acts.
In May, Bangkok police arrested six suspects who deceived 500 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals into investing in fake cryptocurrency schemes that resulted in the loss of the victim’s funds.
Just last month, South African authorities arrested two men for alleged $2 Million crypto fraud.
