Crypto▼ Bearish
UK men jailed for £4M crypto fraud using fake police sites
Three UK men impersonated police to steal £4M in crypto, sentenced to up to 6 years. Blockchain analysis led to arrests, £1M recovered. One defendant declared £444 income while shopping at Hermès.
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Three UK men were sentenced to prison for running a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that stole over £4 million by impersonating police officers and building fake law enforcement websites. The Metropolitan Police's Cryptocurrency Team traced the funds using blockchain analysis after victims reported the scam in January 2025.
Anthony Ikenwe, 29, and Kevin Nwamma, 25, each received six-year sentences for conspiracy to defraud alongside concurrent five-year terms for money laundering. Hamza Bashir, 23, got three years and nine months for conspiracy to defraud with a concurrent three-year money laundering sentence.
The trio posed as police officers supposedly safeguarding victims' digital assets, then convinced at least eight people to transfer their crypto holdings to fraudulent accounts. The defendants built fake police websites to add a veneer of legitimacy. Victims, believing they were cooperating with law enforcement to protect their funds, willingly handed over access.
Spending habits told a story their tax returns didn't. Trips to Thailand, Japan, the Maldives, and the Seychelles. Shopping sprees at Harrods and Hermès. One defendant declared an annual income of just £444.