UK Regulator Claws Back Cash From Crypto Fraudsters Who Fleeced 65 Investors

Victims of a £1.5 million cryptocurrency investment scam are finally set to see some of their money returned, after Britain’s financial watchdog secured court orders forcing two convicted fraudsters to hand over hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Financial Conduct Authority announced on Monday that it had obtained confiscation orders against Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga, following a hearing at Southwark Crown Court. Bedi was ordered to repay £603,404.28, while Mavanga must hand over £247,997.99. The regulator said it would now work to return the recovered funds to the victims it defrauded.

The case is the latest chapter in a scheme that ran for more than two years, from February 2017 to June 2019, during which the pair cold-called members of the public and talked them into pouring money into bogus cryptoasset investments. Prosecutors say the fraud was carried out through companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP — outfits that gave the scheme a veneer of legitimacy while, in reality, funnelling investor money away with no genuine crypto trading behind it.

In total, the FCA identified at least 65 people who were duped into the scheme, losing a combined £1,541,799 — sums that, for many, represented significant personal savings gambled on the promise of quick returns from the then-booming digital asset market.

Bedi and Mavanga were convicted following an FCA prosecution and sentenced last year. In July 2025, Bedi received five years and four months in prison, while Mavanga was handed a longer term of six years and six months, reflecting what the court determined was his greater role in orchestrating the fraud. Monday’s confiscation orders, made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, are a separate legal step aimed specifically at stripping the men of their ill-gotten gains — or the value of whatever assets they still hold, whichever figure is lower.

Steve Smart, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, framed the outcome as a warning to others who might see cryptocurrency’s complexity and hype as cover for fraud. “Bedi and Mavanga defrauded investors and left them out of pocket,” Smart said. “These orders bring victims a step closer to getting money back. We’ll keep coming after fraudsters and holding them to account.”

The case underscores a persistent problem regulators around the world have grappled with since digital assets went mainstream: the same features that make cryptocurrency attractive to legitimate investors — its novelty, technical complexity, and promise of outsized returns — also make it a magnet for con artists. Fraudulent schemes dressed up as crypto opportunities have proliferated over the past decade, often targeting people with little technical understanding of blockchain technology but plenty of appetite for the kind of returns splashed across headlines during bull markets.

The FCA has increasingly leaned on tools like cold-call warnings, its public list of unauthorised firms, and criminal prosecutions to combat the trend, while urging consumers to treat unsolicited investment pitches — crypto or otherwise — with deep suspicion. The regulator maintains dedicated guidance for the public on spotting crypto investment scams and reporting suspicious firms, part of a broader push to bring oversight to a sector that has historically operated in regulatory grey zones.

For the 65 victims of the Bedi and Mavanga scheme, Monday’s ruling offers a measure of justice, though the recovered sums fall well short of the full £1.5 million lost. It also serves as a reminder that even after criminal convictions and prison sentences are handed down, recouping stolen money can take years — and rarely results in victims being made completely whole.