One of the men jailed after police traced their criminal activities. Photo: Metropolitan PoliceInfoCriminals were living a high life of expensive foreign holidays, designer shopping trips and luxury carsBritish police have revealed how they worked alongside international partners to secure the conviction of three men involved in cryptocurrency fraud. A trial heard the men had impersonated police officers to defraud eight people of more than £4 million ($5.4 million) worth of crypto. Police found financial records which showed cryptocurrency linked to the offending was routinely converted into payment cards, London Metropolitan Police said.The force said the defendants took regular shopping trips to designer stores including Harrods, Hermes and Louis Vuitton, and treated themselves to hotels, restaurants and other lifestyle expenses, despite them having little or no verified income.The men were linked to various overseas locations, apparently used to enjoy ill-gotten gains. The purchase of a car worth almost £60,000 was bought using cryptocurrency. About £500,000 in cash held in a safety deposit box in Dubai was recovered. Evidence of spending included holidays in places such as Thailand, Japan, Paris, Mykonos, the Maldives and the Seychelles.From left, Hamza Bashir, Kevin Nwamma and Anthony Ikenwe, gang members who defrauded crypto investors. Photo: London Metropolitan PoliceInfoAnthony Ikenwe and Kevin Nwamma were each sentenced to 11 years in jail. The pair pled guilty in April to conspiracy to defraud together with money-laundering offences, including four counts of converting criminal property.Hamza Bashir, sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering, pled guilty on the eighth day of the trial. Officers described how the three men, claiming to be police officers, called their victims, told them their cryptocurrency was at risk and persuaded them to provide account details or transfer the funds to what they said were secure police accounts.However, the highly organised gang had designed convincing looking fake police websites and the cryptocurrency was immediately stolen and laundered through a complex financial network.An incriminating image of one of the crypto criminals. Photo: Metropolitan PoliceInfoOfficers said the recovery of about £1 million after the spending spree demonstrated the UK's capabilities to combat such sophisticated crime. “Criminals should be under no illusion – policing is evolving alongside technology,” said Det Insp Geoff Donoghue, from the Met’s cryptocurrency team. “We have the capabilities to trace and seize high-value assets, and we will do everything in our power to identify those responsible for these fraudulent crimes and bring them to justice.”Experts estimate that more than 60 per cent of all crime proceeds globally now involve digital assets. Billions are moved in ⁠illicit funds through the crypto ​industry, the global watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force said on Thursday. National regulators, financial institutions and crypto companies face “significant and continuing challenges” in detecting and stopping money-laundering flows coming from scam compounds and investment fraud networks”.Updated: July 16, 2026, 3:25 PM