Two individuals have been convicted for their roles in a £1.5m investment fraud.

Raymondip Bedi, 35, and Patrick Mavanga, 40, pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering and carrying out regulated activity without authorisation.

Mavanga also pleaded guilty to possession of false identification documents and perverting the course of justice.

The duo was part of a group that defrauded at least 65 investors out of £1,541,799.

Between February 2017 and June 2019, the group cold-called consumers, directing them to a professional-looking website where they were offered high returns for fake investments in crypto.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court were unable to reach a verdict on a third defendant, and they will face a retrial in September 2025.

A fourth defendant, Rowena Bedi, was acquitted of money laundering. A further individual, Minas Filippidis, is wanted in relation to the same offences.

Bedi and Mavanga will be sentenced at a later date.

The criminal proceeding was brought by the Financial Conduct Authority after the defendants were arrested last April.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, Steve Smart, said: “Bedi and Mavanga lured investors with promises of high returns on crypto investments, but their schemes were nothing but a callous scam.

“If you’re contacted out of the blue about an investment opportunity that sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. If you’re in any doubt – don’t invest.”

A HOST of beers, ciders and wines have been quietly weakened – leaving shoppers demanding a return to their original strength.

Analysis by the Sun has uncovered a raft of booze sold in supermarkets which now have lower alcohol contents – most likely in response to hikes in booze duty by the Government. 

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In many cases the weakened drinks have also risen in price – a phenomenon known as “drinkflation”. 

Bottles of Banks’s Amber Ale were changed from 3.8% to 3.4% in the middle of last year, while the price went up from 89p to £1 in Tesco.

One reviewer wrote on the Tesco website: “Been buying it for years but will stop now. I would also rather pay more for quality.

“There should be a petition to change it back to its original taste and abv.”

A spokesman for the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company Group, which makes Banks’ Ale, said its reduced ABV “supports moderation”, and argued the product still has “great taste and quality”.

Meanwhile Compton Orchard Medium Dry Cider is now 4%, down from 5% last year.

Its manufacturers said the Government’s duty hikes had impacted the firm, but it added that customers also wanted lighter options now so it supplies a range of products with different strengths.

Wines have been impacted – with Sun Online previously revealing how mainstream brands including Blossom Hill and Hardys have lowered their ABVs following tax hikes.

Today we can expose further reductions. Taparoo Valley Australian Shiraz, sold by Tesco, was 14% in July 2022, at a cost of £3.99 for a 75cl bottle, but it has since fallen to 11%, with the same volume costing £4.15.

One reviewer wrote: “This wine has steadily been reduced in alcohol % which has destroyed any value for money that it had . Thin and lacking in any varietal characteristics but what can you expect for the price?”

Caparelli Italian Rose Blush 75Cl, also sold only in Tesco, has fallen from 12% to 11%, but increased from £4.29 to £5.50 in two years.

Meanwhile Tesco Green Ginger Wine has been reduced from 15% in 2022, when it was sold as fortified wine, to its current level of 11.5%. The price has also increased from £3.75 to £4.50.

Tesco said of the changes: “We work with our suppliers to ensure that our own-brand wines offer great taste and value for our customers.”

The UK Government’s alcohol duty reforms introduced in August last year resulted in the biggest increases in booze duty in almost 50 years.

The duty paid on a bottle of still wine was pushed up by 20%, or 44p, based on an average alcohol strength of 12.5% ABV.

Wines that are 11% currently have a £2.35 duty imposed on each bottle, whereas any between 11.5% and 14.5% command a flat tax rate of £2.67. 

For that reason many bottles were pushed down to 11%.

From February, duty rates will change again with a new system of taxation introduced to penalise higher strength drinks, and Labour has pushed through the change in last week’s Budget.

Under the new regime, the single amount of duty paid on wines between 11.5 and 14.5% ABV – £2.67 – will be replaced with increasingly higher payable amounts according to the strength of the wine.

That means a 75cl bottle of wine at 14.5% ABV will see wine duty increase from £2.67 per bottle to £3.21, based on a predicted RPI inflation rate of 3.65%.

But for an 11% bottle the duty payable will be much less at £2.43, an enormous difference of 78p. 

The resulting array of weakened plonks have been dubbed “Rishi wines”, after the former Prime Minister who championed the reforms.

UN-BEER-LIEVABLE

Booze producers are also being incentivised to produce lower strength beers, with 3.4% bevvies falling into a lower tax bracket than 3.5% ones.

As a result Carlsberg Danish Pilsner, Grolsch Premium Pilsner and – as revealed today – Banks’ Amber Ale have been reduced to 3.4%. 

Currently beer with a strength between 1.3% and 3.4% have a duty of £9.27 for each litre of pure alcohol, whereas beer with an alcohol strength of 3.5% to 8.4% carries a duty of £21.01 for each pure litre of alcohol.

The duty payable on each of these brackets are set to rise by inflation (around 3.65%) in February.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

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A SEASIDE town in Scotland with the country’s smallest harbour has been named the best place to live in the UK.

Located in East Lothian, just 30 minutes from Edinburgh, North Berwick is a quaint seaside town with 8,000 people.

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Its residents have reason to celebrate because the quiet seaside town was named the best place to live in the UK in 2024 by The Sunday Times earlier this year.

The newspaper analysed factors like schools, transport, culture, green spaces and broadband speed to name the UK’s most livable places.

North Berwick took the first place thanks to its easy connection to Edinburgh, which is just 30 minutes away by train, its thriving high street of independent shops and its community spirit.

The seaside town is backed by a number of sandy beaches, including West Beach and West Bay Beach.

Beach-goers who want to opt for somewhere quieter, should head to Seacliff Beach to the east of North Berwick.

The Scottish Tourism Board describes it as a “hidden gem” and “largely unspoilt”.

Seacliff Beach is a private beach, which means beach-goers will need to pay to visit, with some holidaymakers citing a £5 parking charge in online reviews.

Despite having to pay to visit, the beach remains popular with surfers and dog walkers.

The tiny beach also has a tiny sandstone harbour that’s thought to be the smallest of its kind in the country.

For wildlife enthusiasts, there’s also the Scottish Seabird Centre – an award-winning tourist attraction where visitors can watch wildlife through cameras on local islands.

On the cameras, wildlife lovers can spot gannets and puffins on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve, the biggest puffin colony on the east coast of Britain. 

On-site, there’s also the Seabird Café, which has a large seaside sun deck and a gift shop.

Seasonal boat trips around three neighbouring islands also operate between April and September.

North Berwick is also home to fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours, quirky tearooms, coffee shops and independent shops.

Other attractions include playgrounds, tennis courts and neighbouring golf courses.

Overnight stays in North Berwick don’t come cheap, with hotel rooms in the town from £150 per night.

There are plenty of other little-known seaside towns and villages to visit in Scotland, including Gearrannan, which consists of nine restored traditional thatched cottages that overlook Garenin Bay in the Scottish Outer Hebrides.

The small cluster of homes was originally built in the 1800s and is very typical of the “blackhouses” that could once be seen scattered throughout the landscape.

Today, the area acts as a living museum to the time, with visitors even able to stay in four of the remaining cottages.

And earlier this year, Sun Travel revealed the best seaside destinations to visit in winter.

And this other holiday location is getting a huge new tourist attraction.

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