Three men who disguised themselves as police officers and created fake police websites to steal $5.4 million worth of crypto have been jailed in the UK this week.
According to a report from the UK’s Metropolitan Police, the gang called unsuspecting crypto holders and convinced them, while posing as police officers, that their funds were at risk.
Victims were instructed to deposit their crypto into wallet addresses they were told were secure police accounts, and were encouraged to give up the details of their own accounts.
Once handed over, the funds were laundered before being spent on luxury holidays, cars, clothes, and watches.
Adding to these offences, the men also misrepresented their annual incomes, with one of them declaring an annual income of just £444 ($600).
Read more: UK police officer caught lying about crypto bags banned from force
Among the luxury items purchased were a £60,000 ($81,000) car, holidays to Thailand, Japan, Paris, Mykonos, the Maldives, and the Seychelles, and various goods from the likes of Harrods, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Rolex.
Police also found £500,000 ($674,000) in cash in a safety deposit box and determined that much of the crypto stolen by the gang was being converted into payment cards.
The Met eventually tracked down the gang after a victim reported in January 2025 that they’d been swindled.
Hamza Bashir, 23, Kevin Nwamma, 25, and Anthony Ikenwe, 29 were handed prison sentences of six years and nine months, 11 years, and 11 years, respectively.
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