Three men sentenced for £4m crypto fraud in London

Three men have been sentenced to prison in London for impersonating police officers and stealing more than 4 million pounds in cryptocurrency from eight victims. The sentences were handed down at Southwark Crown Court on July 16, 2026, concluding a major investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Cryptocurrency Team.

Anthony Ikenwe, 29, of East Tilbury, and Kevin Nwamma, 25, of Watford, were each sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit fraud, with concurrent five-year sentences for money laundering. Hamza Bashir, 23, of Wimbledon, received three years and nine months for conspiracy to commit fraud, with a concurrent three-year sentence for money laundering. Ikenwe and Nwamma pleaded guilty in April, while Bashir changed his plea to guilty during his trial after prosecutors presented substantial evidence.

The fraud began in January 2025 when victims started reporting the scam to police. The gang contacted cryptocurrency holders, pretending to be police officers, and warned them their funds were at risk. They persuaded victims to either share account details or transfer funds to what they claimed were secure police-controlled accounts. To bolster their credibility, the...