FCA Wins Confiscation Orders for Victims of £1.5 Million Crypto Fraud

The Financial Conduct Authority secured confiscation orders against Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga at Southwark Crown Court on 28 September 2026, requiring the pair to repay funds the regulator said will be returned to victims of a £1.5 million cryptoasset investment fraud.

Bedi was ordered to pay £603,404.28 and Mavanga was ordered to pay £247,997.99. The FCA said it has identified and contacted victims of the fraud and will ensure that funds recovered through the confiscation process are returned to them. At least 65 investors were defrauded and lost £1,541,799.

Between February 2017 and June 2019, Bedi and Mavanga operated a fraudulent investment scheme, cold-calling consumers and persuading them to invest in fake cryptoasset opportunities through companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP. When it announced the pair’s convictions, the FCA said the group directed consumers to a professional-looking website where they were offered high returns for fake investments in crypto.

Bedi, of Bromley, London, was born on 9 October 1989, and Mavanga, of Peckham, London, was born on 24 November 1984. The individuals were charged in April 2023.

Convictions and Sentencing

Bedi pleaded guilty to four charges on 2 May 2023: conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and money laundering offences. Mavanga pleaded guilty to three charges on 9 June 2023: conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition, and possession of false identification documents with an improper intention.

Mavanga was also convicted on 7 November 2024 of perverting the course of justice for the deletion of phone call recordings following Bedi’s arrest in March 2019. Rowena Bedi was acquitted of the single money-laundering charge she faced, while the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a third defendant, who the FCA said would face a retrial in September 2025. A further individual, Minas Filippidis, was wanted in relation to the same offences, the FCA said.

Under Section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, a person cannot carry on a regulated activity in the UK unless FCA authorised or exempt, a restriction known as the general prohibition, and breaching it is a criminal offence with a maximum sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment, according to the FCA. Money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is punishable on conviction by a fine and/or up to 14 years’ imprisonment, conspiracy to defraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, and possession of false identity documents with an improper intent carries a maximum of 10 years, the regulator said.

On 4 July 2025, His Honour Judge Griffiths at Southwark Crown Court sentenced Bedi to 5 years and 4 months’ imprisonment and Mavanga to 6 years and 6 months’ imprisonment, the FCA said in its sentencing announcement. In sentencing, Judge Griffiths remarked that Bedi and Mavanga ‘were both leading players in a conspiracy whereby the victims of the fraud were persuaded to invest in crypto currency consultancy’ and told them ‘you conspired to drive a coach and horses through the regulatory system.’

Bedi’s sentence comprised 5 years for conspiracy to commit fraud, a consecutive 4 months for conspiracy to breach the general prohibition, and 2-year terms for each of possession of criminal property and conversion of criminal property, both running at the same time as the 5 years and 4 months. Mavanga’s sentence comprised 5 years and 8 months for conspiracy to commit fraud, a 6-month previously suspended sentence activated to run consecutively, a consecutive 4 months for conspiracy to breach the general prohibition, and concurrent terms of 12 months for possession of false identification documents with an improper intent and 9 months for perverting the course of justice. At the time, the FCA said confiscation proceedings were continuing to recover the benefit from both defendants’ crimes.

Confiscation Terms and Victim Repayment

Confiscation orders are made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and require offenders to repay the benefit they gained from criminal conduct or the value of their available assets, whichever is lower, according to the FCA. If the defendants fail to pay the orders within three months, Bedi will face up to an additional 5 years in prison and Mavanga could face up to 2 years.

Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: ‘Bedi and Mavanga defrauded investors and left them out of pocket. These orders bring victims a step closer to getting money back. We’ll keep coming after fraudsters and holding them to account.’

The FCA said it has previously sought to contact affected investors and that anyone who believes they may have been affected and has not heard from it should contact its Consumer Helpline. Fighting financial crime is a priority in the regulator’s five-year strategy, it said. In 2023/24, the FCA secured nine successful fraud prosecutions and charged 21 individuals with financial crime offences, which it said was the highest number of charges in any single year.