Two UK men jailed for $2m crypto investment fraud

Two UK men have been sentenced to a combined 12 years in prison for a £1.5 million (~$2m) crypto investment scam, following a prosecution by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Between February 2017 and June 2019, Raymondip Bedi, 35, and Patrick Mavanga, 40, cold-called victims to lure them to fake websites with a promise of lucrative returns on crypto investments. They managed to scam 65 investors of £1,541,799 (~$2,104,555).

The crooks, who operated through companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP, were prosecuted by the FCA and pleaded guilty.

Bedi received a sentence of 5 years and 4 months, while Mavanga was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months at Southwark Crown Court.

Ongoing confiscation proceedings are trying to recover criminal gains.

In sentencing, His Honour Judge Griffiths said that Bedi and Mavanga "were both leading players in a conspiracy whereby the victims of the fraud were persuaded to invest in cryptocurrency consultancy" and "you conspired to drive a coach and horses through the regulatory system".

While Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Bedi and Mavanga ruthlessly defrauded dozens of innocent victims, and it is right that they have received these prison sentences. Criminals need to be clear that there is a cost to committing crime, and we will seek to make them pay.”

Following a string of scam cases, two recent reports identified the top crypto scams in 2025.

These include traditional phishing and social engineering attacks, as well as more novel schemes, such as rug pulls and sextortion. Pig butchering scams also remain operationally resilient, despite a crackdown by law enforcement.