Three men have been arrested as part of an operation investigating a crypto scam in the UK, led by the Metropolitan Police’s Economic Crime Command.
A spokesperson for the Met told Decrypt that the trio were detained as part of Operation Galafarm, a long-running investigation into crypto fraud that saw members of the public targeted with fake investment opportunities.
“It is alleged more than £15m ($20m) in stolen funds was laundered through a set of shell companies,” the spokesperson told Decrypt.
Search warrants were executed at six addresses across the capital, and two men aged 24 and 36 were detained in Hackney, east London, on May 7.
A 36-year-old man later handed himself into detectives—and all three have since been bailed pending further enquiries.
Crypto crime in the UK
Law enforcement agencies in the UK have been stepping up their efforts against crypto crime in recent years.
The government has granted police forces, as well as the National Crime Agency, greater powers to “seize, freeze and destroy” digital assets used by criminals.
Meanwhile, NCA estimates indicate that illicit crypto transactions worth up to $5.1 billion are linked to the UK every year.
Data from Arkham Intelligence suggests the British government currently holds more than 61,000 BTC seized from criminals, which is now worth in excess of $6.1 billion after the cryptocurrency returned to six-figure territory earlier this week.
But last week, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury confirmed the UK has no plans to follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps by creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Emma Reynolds MP told the Financial Times Digital Asset Summit: “We don’t think that’s appropriate for our market. We understand that’s what the U.S. is going for, but that’s not the plan for us.”
The government has faced questions over why it hasn’t sold any of the Bitcoin in its custody to bolster the public finances—at a time when a series of controversial welfare cuts, including on winter fuel payments given to pensioners, are being made.