Two men have been jailed for stealing over £5.7million in cryptocurrency from 55 victims across the globe in a fraud plot that saw them amass a suitcase filled with £551,000 in cash and a £60,000 Banksy art work.
Jake Lee, 38, from Bath and James Heppel, 42, from Wiltshire spoofed the domain of online cryptocurrency exchange website Blockchain.com to gain access to their victims login details and Bitcoin wallets so they could steal their funds.
An investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) identified 55 victims from 26 different countries, including 11 from the UK.
Police put a restraint order on £835,000 in cash, including the £551,000 in the suitcase that was handed over voluntarily by Lee, £64,000 worth of cryptocurrency, a Banksy print worth £60,000 and three vehicles.
A confiscation order for nearly £1million was made against Lee, which will be used to compensate the victims.
The investigation started in 2018 after Lee was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.
Police seized £24,000 in cash, digital devices and three laminated Bitcoin wallet recovery seeds – a list of words printed or written on a piece of paper that can restore lost Bitcoin funds but can also be used to steal funds if someone else finds it.
The investigation unit found a link between Lee and a cryptocurrency scam they were looking at reported by a victim in Wiltshire who had £11,000 worth of Bitcoin stolen from his Blockchain wallet.
Detective Sergeant Matt Brain from SWROCU’s Regional Cyber Crime Unit said: ‘We took on the investigation into Lee and when we analysed his devices, we established he was a central figure involved in a sophisticated domain spoofing fraud and worked to identify numerous victims.’
Lee and Heppel both pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.
Lee was sentenced to four years and Heppel was sentenced to 15 months at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.
DS Brain said: ‘Mapping out Lee and Heppel’s offending and links to other suspects and cryptocurrency exchanges all over the world was complex work, but the fact they both pleaded guilty to all counts, negating the need for a six-week trial, shows the strength of evidence we secured against them.’
Pamela Jain, a specialist prosecutor with the Serious Economic Organised Crime International Directorate of the Crown Prosecution Service, said:
‘Jake Lee and James Heppel defrauded people in 26 countries, including 11 victims in the UK, by diverting Bitcoin into wallets over which they had control.
‘This was a complex and time-consuming prosecution which involved enquiries with numerous victims and prosecuting authorities all over the world.
‘A substantial sum of money and assets have been seized. In addition to his prison sentence, the court also ordered Jake Lee to pay almost £1 million by way of a confiscation order which will enable the victims to be compensated. Confiscation proceedings against James Heppel are ongoing.
‘Compensation orders force criminals to handover available money and assets or face having time added onto their prison sentence.’