The Royal Court of Soutorca sentenced two men to imprisonment for organizing fraud with cryptocurrencies and deceit of 65 investors who lost 1.5 million pounds (about $ 2.1 million).

According to the British financial supervision department (FCA), in the period from February 2017 to June 2019, 35-year-old Ramondi Bedi and 40-year-old Patrick Mavanga were associated with potential victims. The accused invited them to invest in cryptocurrency and lured people on fake platforms, which they managed through different companies, including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP. Investors in digital assets were guaranteed a large profit.

The court sentenced Bedi to 5 years and 4 months of imprisonment, while Mavanga received 6 years and 6 months in prison. Violators pleaded guilty to fraud back in 2023. They were accused of conspiracy to make investment fraud with cryptocurrencies and storage fake identity documents. Last year, Mawange also charged the investigation, as he deliberately removed the recordings of telephone conversations with Bedi, where they discussed the implementation of fraudulent schemes with cryptocurrencies. Law enforcement officers are still conducting a procedure for confiscating crypto assets to return the lost funds to investors.

“Bidi and Mavanging mercilessly deceived dozens of innocent victims that were in search of investments to increase income. The criminals rightly received a prison term, this will serve as a restraining factor for other criminals committing such atrocities, ”the court said.

FCA warned that it would continue to pursue attackers using phishing, social engineering methods and romantic acquaintances for the theft of cryptocurrencies. Such attacks became very common, the department noted.

In May, FCA proposed forbidding private investors to use borrowed funds and loans for buying cryptocurrencies to protect their financial investments from strong volatility of the crypto market.