Four people at the centre of a multi-million pound Bitcoin cryptocurrency fraud have been jailed.
They were involved in a conspiracy to dishonestly obtain currency worth £21 million between October 2017 and January 2018.
Three men and one woman, aged 24-54, were convicted of fraud and transferring criminal property at Preston Crown Court.
They have been jailed for a total of 15 years.
The group worked with ringleader James Parker, who died in 2021 before he could be prosecuted for masterminding the conspiracy from his Blackpool home.
The court heard he exploited a loophole to withdraw dishonestly-obtained crypto assets worth £15 million from his trading account on an Australian-based cryptocurrency exchange.
Parker’s associates Kelly Caton and Jordan Robinson dishonestly withdrew £2.7 million and £1.7 million respectively from their accounts.
Parker’s financial adviser Stephen Boys worked with a UK national based in the United Arab Emirates to convert the cryptocurrency into cash.
The money was then laundered through various foreign-based online accounts.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: “A very significant amount of the laundered assets have been returned or are in the process of being recovered on the behalf of the Australian cryptocurrency exchange.”
Prosecutor Jonathan Kelleher added: “These offenders used the internet from the comfort of their own homes to obtain tens of millions of pounds worth of Bitcoin which did not belong to them.”
Stephen Boys, 59, from Accrington, was found guilty of converting and transferring criminal property and jailed for six years
Kelly Caton, 45, from Blackpool, was convicted of fraud, converting and acquiring criminal property and jailed for four-and-a-half years
Jordan Robinson, 24, from Fleetwood, was found guilty of fraud, converting and acquiring criminal property and also jailed for four-and-a-half years
James Austin-Beddoes, 28, from St Annes, found guilty of fraud and acquiring criminal property. He pleaded guilty to converting criminal property earlier and was jailed for 18 months, suspended for a year
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Chiron Investigations: Successfully Recovering Over 97 percent of Stolen Digital Assets with Cutting-Edge Technologies and Resources
Mudslide leads to the evacuation of some 10 homes in the Berkeley Hills on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has launched a use-of-force investigation after the death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop earlier this month. Nichols' family is asking that police body camera video be released immediately. Elise Preston reports.
California has added little to its once-prized water system since 1960, and the population has more than doubled, columnist George Skelton writes.
(Bloomberg) — Japan and India held their first joint air drills in an area outside of Tokyo as both countries step up military exercises with other countries amid worries about China’s assertiveness.Most Read from BloombergEuropean Stocks Rise as US Futures Signal Caution: Markets WrapItaly’s Most-Wanted Mafia Boss Arrested After 30 YearsChief Executives, Economists Brace for Recession as Davos BeginsPfizer Bivalent Vaccine Linked to Strokes in Preliminary DataThe Apartment Market Is About to G
A lot happened in the game for 2022 statewide, with plenty to look forward to this year.
Lee Byung-gul, the CEO of V Global, will serve 25 years in prison after his conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court of Korea on Friday.
A mudslide forced the evacuations of nearly 10 homes in a Berkeley Hills neighborhood and closed a road at nearby UC Berkeley Monday morning.
Meteorologist George Waldenberger said for one more time this weekend, we have a chilly night ahead.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday joined 12 other Alabama officials in being sworn into office. This is the third time Ivey has been sworn in as governor.
People looking to travel between Orlando and Miami will have a new way to get to and from Brightline stations in South Florida.
Tammy Rose Bringloe, 34, has cold urticaria – an ‘allergy to the cold’ – and people have made fun of her condition throughout her life
Report cites data limitations not present in other states
The risk that European Union governments will not be able to spend the largest aid package in its history is growing as members struggle to meet deadlines imposed by the bloc, officials from four countries have told Reuters. Difficulties in renegotiating the 724-billion-euro post-pandemic recovery plan – less than two years after it was approved – raises doubts about its ability to deliver at all, said Manuel Hidalgo, a senior fellow at the Esade Centre for Economic Policy, a Madrid-based think-tank. "If all the money isn't spent this will have a reputational cost for the EU," Hidalgo said.
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesWhen the octogenarian billionaire Nelson Peltz calls, perhaps from his New York office—or, if he’s craving the sun, his 44,000-square-foot palace on Palm Beach island—the world’s most powerful CEOs have reason to grow alarmed.Peltz’s firm, Trian Fund Management, specializes in activist campaigns against companies it believes are underperforming. Industry giants like DuPont, Procter & Gamble, and PepsiCo have all felt the heat.Peltz d
“Corsage” will continue to be Austria’s official submission in the International Feature Film Oscar category, despite the charges against one of its cast members, Austrian actor Florian Teichtmeister, who was charged with possession of child pornography. Meanwhile, the film’s producers and its director-writer have released a statement on what they knew and when. Film & […]
A Sunday night shooting in a Phoenix townhouse left four women with injuries that are not life-threatening. No arrests have been made.
When deputies arrived on the scene they found several people injured and one person dead of gunshot wounds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out his third straight game with knee soreness, but the Bucks got back in the win column after two losses.
Provides an overview of Anguilla, including key events and facts.
Author
Administraroot
