Crypto ATM Kingpin Gets Slammed with 4-Year Sentence 🚔💰

by

Story Highlights

  • UK nails first crypto ATM operator with a 4-year stretch in the slammer.
  • Olumide Osunkoya’s crypto adventure lands him in the clink.
  • FCA to grab the dough under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Cha-ching!

In a case that’s like something out of a bad movie, the UK sentenced a guy to four years in the big house for running crypto ATMs like it was a game of Monopoly. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was on the case, and they nabbed 46-year-old Olumide Osunkoya.

Osunkoya’s crypto ATM saga ends with a jailhouse rock

Osunkoya was rolling out 28 crypto ATMs through his company, GidiPlus Ltd., from December 2021 to March 2022, without so much as a “May I?” from the FCA. After getting the big nope from the FCA, he reportedly played a sneaky game of musical chairs with the machines and kept operating a smaller crew of 12 ATMs under an alias. The court wasn’t buying his “I didn’t know” act.

He got pinched in September 2024 and copped a plea to five charges, including fraud and having a house full of stolen goods. By February 2025, the judge had had enough and sent him to the cooler, pointing out that he tried to pull a fast one and it wasn’t just a simple “oops, I forgot to file some paperwork” kind of deal.

FCA shows no mercy for crypto cowboys

The FCA has been playing hardball with crypto crooks, investigating and shutting down unlicensed ATMs all over the place. They’ve managed to go from over 80 machines in 2022 to zero by 2024. Authorities keep reminding people that crypto is the Wild West, and you better watch your wallet.

Regulatory bigwigs are saying this sentencing is a wake-up call for anyone thinking they can outsmart financial laws. They’re also planning to take back all the ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Talk about a buzzkill.

 

Read More

2025-03-03 13:43