The UK has sentenced two men to a combined total of 12 years in prison after they admitted to running a crypto scheme that stole over 1.5 million British pounds ($2 million) by cold-calling victims. 

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday that a central London court handed the scheme’s operators, Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga, their sentences after the pair pleaded guilty to multiple charges in November.

Bedi was sentenced to five years and four months behind bars, while Mavanga was sentenced to six years and six months.

“Bedi and Mavanga lured investors with promises of high returns on crypto investments, but their schemes were nothing but a callous scam,” Steve Smart, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said at the time of the pair’s conviction in November.

Pair ran cold-calling crypto con

The FCA said in November that between February 2017 and June 2019, the pair were part of a group that would cold-call people to direct them to a “professional-looking website where they were offered high returns for fake investments in crypto.”

The duo managed to defraud at least 65 investors out of just over 1.54 million British pounds ($2.1 million) over that time.

The money was sent to companies they operated —  Astaria Group LLP, CCX Capital and authorized clones of the firms Ian Buckley Financial Services and Capital Partners Group.

Duo were “leading players” in scam

In sentencing on Friday, the FCA said Southwark Crown Court 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 cryptocurrency consultancy”

“You conspired to drive a coach and horses through the regulatory system,” he reportedly told the pair.

Related: 5 ‘insidious’ crypto scams to watch out for this year 

The FCA’s Smart said the pair “ruthlessly defrauded dozens of innocent victims, and it is right that they have received these prison sentences.”

Bedi and Mavanga pled guilty to crypto scheme

The two men were first charged in April 2023. The FCA said in November last year that Bedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and conspiracy to breach the UK’s financial services laws.

Mavanga similarly pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to breach finance laws, along with admitting to possessing fake identification documents with an improper intention.

He was also convicted by a jury of perverting the course of justice for deleting phone call recordings after Bedi was arrested in March 2019.

At the time, a jury did not reach a verdict on a third unnamed defendant, and they would face a retrial in September, while Rowena Bedi, a fourth person charged in connection with the scheme, was acquitted of a single money laundering charge, the FCA said.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has questioned the legitimacy of The Open Network’s new pathway to UAE residency, noting the absence of any official announcement from UAE government sources.

As Cointelegraph reported, The Open Network announced on Saturday that 10-year UAE Golden Visas will be available to applicants who stake at least $100,000 worth of Toncoin (TON) for three years and pay a $35,000 processing fee. The visa could reportedly be secured in under seven weeks.

“Is this real?” CZ asked on X in response to the announcement. “It would be awesome IF it is true. But I got conflicting info so far.”

“There are no official gov website with the “stake Ton for golden visa” update,” CZ added, noting the lack of information about which government entity, if any, approved the program.

CZ is familiar with the UAE’s residency requirements, having received a Golden Visa when he first arrived in the country.

In response to CZ’s post, some X users pointed out that Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has confirmed the news. Durov reposted the announcement on X from crypto influencer Ash Crypto.

Even so, CZ had reservations, stating he likes to “trust but verify.” 

Nevertheless, the announcement was enough to send TON’s price sharply higher, with the token rallying more than 11% within a few hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

Cointelegraph could not independently verify the news, as the announcement did not appear on the websites of the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate DAO, Securities and Commodities Authority, Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority or Abu Dhabi Global Market Authority as of Sunday afternoon. 

However, as the original announcement stated, the Golden Visa program is being managed by a third party.

“Our visa issuing partner in the UAE will review your details and guide you through the final steps,” TON said.

Related: Telegram founder Durov on arrest, detention in France: ‘I’m confused’

UAE has become a leading crypto and blockchain hub

The UAE has emerged as a rapidly growing hub for cryptocurrency adoption and blockchain-based companies, thanks to its favorable regulatory environment, government support and infrastructure that welcomes DeFi and Web3 projects.

Many of these advantages were highlighted at the recent Token2049 conference in Dubai, which CZ attended.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, the UAE has launched a Machine Economy Free Zone to explore the intersection of robotics, AI and decentralization. 

The new sandbox, developed in partnership with layer-1 blockchain peaq, aims to reward tokenholders with a share of the revenues generated by machine economy activities. The initiative also seeks to create real-world use cases for decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) networks.

The UAE has also positioned itself as a key player in tokenized real estate, with Dubai launching the first licensed tokenized real estate project in the Middle East and North Africa. The initiative is a collaboration between the Central Bank of the UAE, the Dubai Futures Foundation and the Dubai Land Department.