The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that two individuals have been convicted for their roles in a £1.5m crypto investment fraud.
This relates to an investigation brought by the FCA, in which Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga, defrauded at least 65 investors out of over £1.5m between February 2017 and June 2019.
Detailing how the group defrauded victims, the UK financial watchdog said the group would cold-call consumers, directing them to a professional-looking website where they were offered high returns for fake investments in crypto.
Bedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as well as money laundering offences at an earlier hearing.
In terms of Mavanga, he also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as well as possession of false identification documents with an improper intention at an earlier hearing.
Additionally, Mavanga was convicted of perverting the course of justice for erasing phone call recordings after the arrest of Bedi in March 2019.
The FCA reports that there are five individuals in total involved in the scam. However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a third defendant, who will face a retrial in September 2025.
The fourth individual, Rowena Bedi, was acquitted of the one charge they faced relating to money laundering. However, there is a fifth person, Minas Filippidis, who is wanted for the same offences.
Steve Smart, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: “Bedi and Mavanga lured investors with promises of high returns on crypto investments, but their schemes were nothing but a callous scam. If you’re contacted out of the blue about an investment opportunity that sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. If you’re in any doubt – don’t invest”
Fraud is on the rise in the UK, as shown by the FCA’s recent track record with prosecutions. In 2023/24, the watchdog secured nine successful fraud prosecutions and charged 21 individuals with financial crime offences – the highest number of charges in any single year.
A large majority of scams begin on social media, which is an issue the FCA has attempted to solve recently. In October, the UK’s financial watchdog followed up a warning issued against ‘finfluencers’ earlier this year with an investigation against some social media personalities.
