UK crims sentenced for multi-million pound crypto fraud

UK crims sentenced for multi-million pound crypto fraud

Four UK nationals have been sentenced for fraudulently obtaining and laundering bitcoin and other cryptocurrency worth 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 then sentenced to a total of 15 years.

All four were associates of James Parker, who masterminded the conspiracy from his home in Blackpool over a three-month period between October 2017 and January 2018. Parker, who died in 2021, identified and then exploited a loophole on the cryptocurrency trading platform which allowed him and his associates to obtain credits worth £21 million at that time.

Over three months, Parker extracted crypto assets worth £15 million from his trading account. His associates, Caton