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The first person convicted in the UK for running a network of Crypto money machines has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Olumide Osunkoya, 46, had “committed an extremely serious crime”, said Judge Gregory Perrins on Friday in the Southwark Crown Court in London, who carried out the punishment.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority lodged five charges against Osunkoya last year for the illegal running of several crypto money machines without registration, the falsification of documents and the possession of criminal ownership between December 2021 and September 2023.
Osunkoya argued guilty of all charges in September 2024.
Crypto money machines, or CATMs, are machines with which people can buy money or convert it into crypto assets. Catms work in a similar way as a typical ATM and can accept cash, convert to a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and send the digital money to the crypto portion address of a customer.
Authorities around the world have tried to take out Crypto money machines because they are considered an ideal way to wash money white, with little traceability about where funds come from or where they are sent. Operators usually earn costs for transactions.
Perrins said about crypto money machines: “When they are used invalid, they are little more than money laundering.”
There are no legal crypto -operators in the UK. The supervisor claimed that Osunkoya had at least 11 CATMs, who incorporated more than £ 2.5 million in transactions in the indictment.
“In my opinion, your actions were deliberately, carefully planned and extremely serious,” Perrins said, adding that the violations of Osunkoya “required a considerable degree of refinement and planning” and he needed “a high degree of financial gain”.
Osunkoya had “repeatedly lied,” the judge said when he took off the punishment, and added that he had acted in “deliberate and calculated challenge for the regulator”. He earned at least £ 500,000 profit, the judge said, adding that he earned 20 to 30 percent commission on transactions. The FCA has asked that the court started proceedings for all the financial benefits that Osunkoya has recovered from his crimes.
A lawyer for the FCA said the court that Osunkoya had requested to serve Catms and was rejected by the regulator in 2021. The watchdog made it clear to Osunkoya that it was a violation for him to continue running the machines without permission, said Matthew Butt KC.
Osunkoya then created a ‘fictional character’ called Yarik Wolnik to exploit his company. When Osunkoya was arrested in September 2023, the police found £ 19,500 in his house, which he claimed was for household accounts.
Lady-Gené Waszkewitz, acting for Osunkoya, said in mitigation that the diagnosis was a pretty serious form of sickle cell disease. . . for which he is regularly treated. “
Because of his state of health: “There is a real doubt about his ability to be treated in the right way in the prison system,” said Waszkewitz, adding that he had no previous convictions.
The Osunkoya family usually lives in Nigeria, where his mother has recently undergone a stroke, while also supporting his two -year -old daughter, who lives with her mother in London, said Waszkewitz.
Osunkoya said in pre-trial documents that he needed the money to operate crypto money machines to support the costs of his sister’s cancer treatment. But Perrins said that the court had not seen any evidence to support this.
The maximum punishment for falsification and the use of a false instrument is up to 10 years in prison, for possession of criminal ownership it is up to 14 years in prison and for working crypto -money machines without FCA registration it is two years.
“This is the first criminal conviction of the UK for non -registered crypto activities and sends a clear message: those who flood our rules try to avoid detection and undertake criminal activities will have serious consequences,” said Therese Chambers, joint executive director and market overview at the FCA.