A group of criminals who made so much money from a £21m bitcoin scam that they handed out £5,000 gift cards on the streets have been jailed.
Stephen William Boys, 59, and Kelly Caton, 45, have been found guilty of fraud, conversion and transfer of criminal property. Jordan Kane Robinson (25) and James Austin-Beddoes (28) were also found guilty.
Preston Crown Court heard how the group worked with ringleader James Parker, who died in 2021 before he could be prosecuted for masterminding the conspiracy.
Parker ran the operation from his home in Blackpool, Lancashire from October 2017 to January 2018, helping the group “make more money than they could spend”.
Police seized £22million worth of cryptocurrency, as well as luxury watches, homes, cars and designer goods
Kelly Caton, of Blackpool, Lancashire, was convicted of fraud, conversion and acquisition of criminal property and sentenced to four and a half years in prison
He used a loophole to withdraw around £15 million worth of dishonestly acquired crypto assets from his trading account at an Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange.
Caton dishonestly withdrew £2.7m and Robinson £1.7m from their accounts.
The scam raised so much money that £5,000 gift cards were given out to people on the street and cars were bought for people Parker met at the pub, Preston Crown Court heard.
During the trial, Boys told the court how he took £1million in cash in a suitcase to buy a villa from Russians he met in an estate agent’s back office and paid £60,000 to pay off corrupt officials so he could continue could launder money.
During the investigation, police seized 445 bitcoins worth £22million, along with luxury watches, houses, cars and designer goods including a £600 wine cooler, as well as more than £1million in bank accounts.
Parker’s financial adviser Stephen Boys worked with a British citizen living in the United Arab Emirates to convert the cryptocurrency into cash.
The money was then laundered through various foreign online accounts.
Stephen Boys, of Accrington, Lancashire, was found guilty of converting and transferring criminal property and sentenced to six years in prison.
Stephen Boys told the court how he took £1million in cash in a suitcase to buy a villa from Russians he met in an estate agent’s back office
Police said the scale of the fraud left the group “literally with more money than they could spend.”
Jordan Robinson, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, was found guilty of fraud, conversion and acquisition of criminal property and sentenced to four and a half years in prison
Kelly Caton, of Blackpool, Lancashire, was convicted of fraud, conversion and acquisition of criminal property and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
Jordan Robinson, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, was found guilty of fraud, conversion and acquisition of criminal property and also sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
James Austin-Beddoes, of St Annes, Lancashire, has been found guilty of fraud and acquiring criminal property.
He pleaded guilty to converting criminal property and was jailed for 18 months, suspended for a year.
Jonathan Kelleher of the CPS said: “These criminals used the internet from the comfort of their own homes to obtain tens of millions of pounds worth of bitcoin that did not belong to them.
“Cyber-powered crime poses an increasing threat to international economic stability as well as honest individual investors in cryptocurrency.
“The CPS has advised our police partners throughout this international investigation.
“Careful analysis of vast amounts of digital footage and collaboration with the Australian and Finnish authorities enabled us to launch successful prosecutions against these criminals.”
DS David Wainwright, of Lancashire Police, said: “This has been a large and complex case in which these perpetrators have now been brought to justice.
‘I would like to thank everyone who worked as a team together with our partner agencies to achieve this successful outcome.’
Det Sgt David Wainwright, from Lancashire Police Fraud Unit, said: “The scale of the fraud in this case is absolutely staggering and left the suspects with literally more money than they could spend.
“I want to pay tribute to all the authorities who have worked closely together to bring these people to justice.”