A London gang cold-called crypto holders, told them their assets were at risk, and moved the money into a Dubai safety deposit box and a Louis Vuitton receipt trail. Then the Met arrived at their door.
A Southwark Crown Court sentencing this week put three men behind bars for a £5 million ($5.4M USD) crypto fraud built on a single lie: that the caller on the other end of the line was the police. The lie worked because the callers had already done the reading.
Joelle Mopiti, 27, pleaded guilty to ten counts of theft and two counts of money laundering after using a bank staff badge to collect cards from AIB customers. The badge did most of the work.
Federal prosecutors say a 19-year-old Canadian on an expired visa and his 28-year-old Miami co-defendant ran a $13M crypto theft operation built on phone calls. The crime scene was not a smart contract. It was a voice on the other end of the line.