Two individuals have been sentenced to a combined 12 years of imprisonment for their roles in a £1.5m crypto fraud following a prosecution brought by the FCA, while another pair have been sentenced to combined 11 years for £1 million insider dealing and money laundering.
Fake crypto investments
Between February 2017 and June 2019, Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga cold-called victims and sold fake investments in crypto. At least 65 investors were defrauded and lost £1,541,799.
Bedi has been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 5 years and 4 months and Mavanga has been sentenced to 6 years and 6 months.
Confiscation proceedings are continuing to recover the benefit from the crimes of both defendants.
In sentencing, His Honour Judge Griffiths remarked that Bedi and Mavanga "were both leading players in a conspiracy whereby the victims of the fraud were persuaded to invest in crypto currency consultancy", adding that they "conspired to drive a coach and horses through the regulatory system",
£1 million insider dealing and money laundering
Redinel Korfuzi was sentenced to six years imprisonment, and his sister, Oerta Korfuzi, sentenced to five years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court after being convicted of insider dealing and money laundering worth £1 million.
Redinel Korfuzi took advantage of his position as a research analyst at Janus Henderson. In his role, he had access to confidential information that was likely to have an impact on companies’ share prices. He shared this with his sister Oerta to rig the system and make money.
Mr Korfuzi regularly saw emails from companies gauging investor interest on plans to raise equity in the markets or sell large blocks of shares owned by existing shareholders. Within minutes, Mr Korfuzi traded in the shares of those companies across a number of accounts, including those operated by his sister.
The case centred on 13 stocks, traded between 17 December 2019 and 25 March 2021, which generated a profit of more than £960,000. The FCA detected suspicious patterns of trading and analysed large sets of trading data to uncover the crime.
The Korfuzis were arrested in March 2021 as part of a search operation, which was carried out alongside the Metropolitan Police.
FCA investigators also uncovered an international money laundering operation. While the source of the cash remains unknown, 173 deposits were made into accounts controlled or operated by the siblings from the UK to Albania. This included nearly £25,000 of cash in English and Scottish bank notes that was found in two bags during the search of a safety deposit box in Knightsbridge.
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.
“The Korfuzis exploited their privileged position and the confidential inside information they had access to. They rigged the system to satisfy their greed.
"We’re committed to working with our law enforcement partners to fight financial crime and taking forceful action against individuals who undermine the integrity of our markets.”
