Alright, listen up, guys, here’s a tale straight outta the dark alleys of London’s financial underworld.
Two blokes, Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga, got themselves locked up for running a cold-calling crypto scam that swindled £1.54 million, that’s about $2.1 million, from 65 poor souls. Bloody hell.
Sky-high returns on crypto investments? Please, tell me more!
Between February 2017 and June 2019, these two wise guys weren’t just chit-chatting on the phone.
In fact, they were orchestrating a full-blown con, where they’d ring up unsuspecting people, lure ‘em in with sweet talk about sky-high returns on crypto investments, and then point them to slick-looking websites. But those sites?
Nothing but smoke and mirrors, offering fake crypto deals that never existed. Classic hustle, right? The Financial Conduct Authority didn’t take this lightly.
They nailed Bedi and Mavanga with multiple charges, like conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and breaching financial laws.
Mavanga even got pinched for deleting phone call recordings after Bedi’s arrest, trying to cover their tracks like a couple of amateurs.
Empire
When the hammer finally came down last Friday at Southwark Crown Court, Bedi got five years and four months, while Mavanga got six years and six months.
The judge didn’t mince words, and said these two were leading players in a conspiracy that drove a coach and horses through the UK’s regulatory system.
Imagine that, guys, a couple of crooks laughing in the face of the law until the law finally caught up. Steve Smart, the FCA’s big cheese for enforcement, called them ruthless, saying it was right they’re behind bars now.
The money they swindled went through companies they controlled, Astaria Group LLP, CCX Capital, and some fake clones of legit firms like Ian Buckley Financial Services. It’s like they set up a whole fake business empire just to clean their dirty cash.
And while Bedi and Mavanga are paying the price, there’s still a third guy out there awaiting retrial, and another person, Rowena Bedi, was acquitted on money laundering charges. So, the story’s not quite over.
Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga have been sentenced to a combined total of 12 years for cold-calling victims to sell fake crypto investments, defrauding at least 65 investors.
#FinancialCrime #FraudPrevention #FinancialRegulation #Crypto
— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) July 4, 2025
Red flags
Now, if you’re thinking, how do these scams keep happening? Well, people are greedy and gullible, that’s how. Cold calls promising easy money?
That’s a red flag bigger than a neon sign in Times Square, still lotta people believe.
This case is a lesson in crypto scam awareness and the importance of regulatory watchdogs like the FCA stepping in to protect everyday investors. Often from themselves.
