The international crime gang would buy people in the pub cars after making millions
The international crime gang would buy people in the pub cars after making millions
An international crime gang found a glitch which meant they could steal millions of pounds worth of cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin fraud began in 2017 when James Parker spotted a glitch in an Australian cryptocurrency trading website which allowed him to steal money.
He and his co-conspirators managed to siphon off more than £20m worth of credits over the space of three months. Parker’s corrupt financial adviser Stephen Boys, who earned the nickname ‘Rodney’ from Only Fools and Horses, helped launder the stolen funds.
The gang made so much money they would hand out £5,000 gift cards to people in the street and Parker would buy people he met in the pub cars. During a trial last year, Boys told the court how he took £1m in a suitcase to buy a villa from people from Russia who he met in the back office of an estate agent and paid £60,000 to pay off corrupt officials so he could carry on laundering money.
During the investigation, police recovered 445 Bitcoin, then worth £22m, along with several luxury watches, houses, cars and designer goods, along with £1m in bank accounts. The assets will be returned to the victim.
Lancashire Police worked closely with law enforcement across the world, including Australia and Finland, and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring justice. James Parker died in 2021 before he could be prosecuted but his co-conspirators were sentenced to the following in January 2023.
Stephen Boys, 61, from Clayton-le-Moors, was jailed for six years for money laundering. Jordan Robinson, 26, from Fleetwood was jailed for four and a half years for conspiracy to commit fraud, two years for acquisition of criminal property and two years for converting criminal property.
Kelly Caton, 24, previously of an address in Blackpool was jailed for four and a half years for conspiracy to commit fraud, two years for acquisition of criminal property and two years for converting criminal property. James Austin-Beddoes, 30, from Lytham was given a suspended sentence for conspiracy to commit fraud, acquisition of criminal property and converting criminal property.
Today, January 17, during a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Preston Crown Court, it was heard how the force’s economic crime unit had seized assets totalling £4,029,293.13 from Robinson, £7,928,308.59 from Caton, £11,670,329.30 from Boys, around £8,000,000 from Parker and £1,100 from Austin-Beddoes.
In total, the victim lost £24.5m and have been fully compensated. Due to the increase in the value of Bitcoin purchased by the crime gang, the amount seized outstripped the original fraud by around £3m. The surplus will be split between the Home Office, the courts and Lancashire Police.
DS Dave Wainwright, from our Economic Crime Unit, said: “This has been an extremely challenging investigation which has tested our use of the Proceeds of Crime Act. I am pleased that the victim has been compensated in full and that the defendants have been unable to benefit from their criminal activity. The defendants have three months to comply with their court orders or face risking another 14-years imprisonment.
“I would like to thank colleagues from across the police and CPS who contributed to this outstanding result.”