Business Sep 29, 2026

FCA Wins £851,402 From Crypto Fraudsters, Covering 55% of…

The Financial Conduct Authority has obtained confiscation orders totalling £851,402.27 against Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga, two men jailed for a crypto investment fraud that cost at least 65 investors £1,541,799. At a Southwark Crown Court hearing on 28 September, Bedi was ordered to pay £603,404.28 and Mavanga £247,997.99, according to the FCA statement. The regulator said funds recovered through the confiscation process will be returned to identified victims.
The orders equal about 55.2% of the losses identified by the FCA, leaving a gap of £690,396.73 before any other recoveries. That arithmetic is important because a confiscation order is an obligation imposed on a convicted defendant, not confirmation that every pound has already been collected or that every victim will be made whole. The FCA’s wording says the orders bring victims closer to receiving money. Distribution will depend on enforcement and the sums ultimately realised.The identified loss averages almost £23,720 across 65 investors, although actual claims will differ and the FCA has not published an investor-by-investor schedule. The two orders also differ sharply in size, which can arise from the benefit attributed to each defendant, the property available for recovery or both. The figures should therefore be presented as court-ordered amounts rather than an equal compensation pool already divided among victims.

The Fraud Used Familiar Boiler-Room Methods

Between February 2017 and June 2019, Bedi and Mavanga cold-called consumers and directed them toward professional-looking material for fake cryptoasset investments. The businesses used in the operation included CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP. Earlier charging documents also named an unauthorised clone of Capital Partners Group and an unauthorised clone of Ian Buckley Financial Services. The use of several names gave the scheme more than one route to approach consumers and made basic brand recognition a weak defence.

Bedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act and money-laundering offences. Mavanga pleaded guilty to the two conspiracy charges and possession of false identification documents with an improper intention. In July 2025, Bedi received a prison sentence of five years and four months. Mavanga was sentenced to six years and six months. The judge described both as leading participants in a conspiracy that drove through the regulatory system.

The case sits within the FCA’s wider use of criminal prosecution and asset recovery against unauthorised investment businesses. The regulator reported 17 criminal convictions in the first year of its current strategy, alongside three finfluencer arrests. Crypto supplied the sales story in the Bedi and Mavanga scheme, but the operating model was an established boiler-room pattern: unsolicited contact, false authority, fabricated investments and pressure to transfer funds.

Asset Recovery Is a Separate Enforcement Stage

A conviction establishes criminal liability and a prison sentence punishes the offence. Confiscation proceedings address the proceeds. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, a Crown Court can order a convicted person to pay an amount linked to the benefit obtained from crime and the assets available. The order is personal rather than tied to one specified asset. If assets have been moved, spent or hidden, collection can still require further work.

That separation explains why the sentencing announcement in July 2025 said confiscation proceedings were continuing. It also explains the 14-month interval before the orders. Financial investigators must trace assets, establish benefit and available amounts, and present those figures to the court. Similar cases show how much recovery can vary. A July 2026 FCA order was expected to repay 99% of identified losses, while another confiscation order recovered £452,286 from a £1.3 million Ponzi scheme.

Victims May Receive Material Redress, but Not Full Redress

If the full £851,402.27 is collected and distributed solely against the £1,541,799 loss figure, the group-level recovery is just over 55 pence per pound. Individual payments may not follow a uniform percentage because the court process and FCA distribution can take account of verified claims, prior recoveries and available evidence. The FCA said it has identified and contacted victims. Anyone connected to the schemes should rely on direct regulator communications and remain alert to recovery-room fraud, where criminals demand an upfront fee while claiming they can retrieve lost investments.

The result is still substantial. Investment scams often leave little recoverable property by the time criminal proceedings conclude, and crypto-themed schemes can move money rapidly across accounts and jurisdictions. Earlier FCA data recorded sharp growth in enquiries about crypto scams and recovery-room fraud. The new UK regime will bring specified crypto activities into a fuller authorisation framework, with the application gateway opening on 30 September 2026. That regime can raise standards for legitimate firms, but it cannot turn a fabricated investment into a regulated product.

The practical lesson is narrower and more durable. Consumers should verify the exact legal entity on the FCA register, use contact details obtained independently and treat unsolicited investment calls as a warning sign. Firms should monitor clone activity and report misuse of their identities quickly. Enforcement after the event can return meaningful sums, as this case shows, but the £690,396.73 difference between the loss and the orders also shows the limit of relying on recovery once money has entered a fraud network.

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