Two men who stole more than £ 5.7 million worth of cryptocurrency from victims around the world have been jailed.
Jake Lee, 38, of Charlcombe in Bath, and James Heppel, 42, of Staverton in Wiltshire, both pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.
The South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) identified 55 victims in 26 countries, including 11 from the UK, who were targeted by the pair.
Lee was sentenced to four years in prison, while Heppel was sentenced to 15 months at Bristol Crown Court on May 3.
Among the cash was £ 551,000 in a suitcase that Lee voluntarily handed over in January.
The pair carried out fraud by copying the website of a cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com to gain access to the victims ' bitcoin wallets, which allowed them to steal their funds and login details.
Police seized a 2003 engraving of Banksy's "Love Bomb" worth 60,000 pounds, cash totaling 835,000 pounds, cryptocurrency worth 64,000 pounds, and three cars.
A court order was issued against Lee to confiscate almost 1 million pounds sterling, which will be used to pay compensation to victims.
Heppel is currently being investigated for a similar order that forces criminals to hand over available money and assets or increase their prison sentence.
Mr Brain added: We launched an investigation into Lee and, after analyzing his devices, determined that he was the central figure involved in a sophisticated domain forgery scam, and worked to identify numerous victims.
"Identifying Lee and Heppel's wrongdoing and connections to other suspects and cryptocurrency exchanges around the world has been a difficult job, but the fact that they both pleaded guilty to all charges, eliminating the need for a six-week trial, demonstrates the strength of the evidence we have gathered against them.”
Pamela Jane, a specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's International Organised Economic Crime Unit, said:"This was a complex and time-consuming prosecution, which involved interviewing numerous victims and prosecution authorities around the world."
• Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51nrre156xo
Jake Lee, 38, of Charlcombe in Bath, and James Heppel, 42, of Staverton in Wiltshire, both pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.
The South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) identified 55 victims in 26 countries, including 11 from the UK, who were targeted by the pair.
Lee was sentenced to four years in prison, while Heppel was sentenced to 15 months at Bristol Crown Court on May 3.
Among the cash was £ 551,000 in a suitcase that Lee voluntarily handed over in January.
The pair carried out fraud by copying the website of a cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com to gain access to the victims ' bitcoin wallets, which allowed them to steal their funds and login details.
Police seized a 2003 engraving of Banksy's "Love Bomb" worth 60,000 pounds, cash totaling 835,000 pounds, cryptocurrency worth 64,000 pounds, and three cars.
A court order was issued against Lee to confiscate almost 1 million pounds sterling, which will be used to pay compensation to victims.
Heppel is currently being investigated for a similar order that forces criminals to hand over available money and assets or increase their prison sentence.
Mr Brain added: We launched an investigation into Lee and, after analyzing his devices, determined that he was the central figure involved in a sophisticated domain forgery scam, and worked to identify numerous victims.
"Identifying Lee and Heppel's wrongdoing and connections to other suspects and cryptocurrency exchanges around the world has been a difficult job, but the fact that they both pleaded guilty to all charges, eliminating the need for a six-week trial, demonstrates the strength of the evidence we have gathered against them.”
Pamela Jane, a specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's International Organised Economic Crime Unit, said:"This was a complex and time-consuming prosecution, which involved interviewing numerous victims and prosecution authorities around the world."
• Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51nrre156xo
