Men jailed for stealing over £5.7m worth of cryptocurrency from victims worldwide

Two men have been jailed for stealing over £5.7m worth of cryptocurrency from victims all around the world. Jake Lee, 38, from Bath, and James Heppel, 42, from Wiltshire, pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud. The South West Regional Organised Crime Unit identified 55 victims in 26 countries, including 11 from the UK, who had fallen prey to the pair’s scheme.

The duo replicated the website of cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com to access victims’ Bitcoin wallets, allowing them to steal funds and login details. They were able to amass a significant amount of cash, including £551,000 in a suitcase voluntarily handed over by Lee in January. Additionally, a print of the 2003 Banksy work “Bomb Love” worth £60,000, cash totaling £835,000, £64,000 worth of cryptocurrency, and three cars were confiscated by police.

Lee was sentenced to four years in prison, while Heppel received a 15-month sentence at Bristol Crown Court on May 3. A confiscation order for nearly £1 million was made against Lee to compensate the victims, with proceedings for a similar order against Heppel currently underway.

Detective Superintendent Matt Brain from SWROCU’s Regional Cyber Crime Unit stated that the investigation began when Avon and Somerset Police arrested Lee on suspicion of money laundering. The officers recovered £24,000 in cash and three digital devices, including three laminated Bitcoin wallet recovery seeds. The investigation into Lee coincided with a probe into a cryptocurrency scam reported by a Wiltshire victim who had £11,000 worth of Bitcoin stolen from his Blockchain wallet.

Mr. Brain highlighted the complexity of mapping out Lee and Heppel’s offending and their connections to other suspects and cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide. Pamela Jain, a specialist prosecutor with the Serious Economic Organised Crime International Directorate of the Crown Prosecution Service, described the prosecution as complex and time-consuming, involving inquiries with numerous victims and authorities globally.