Crypto criminal Olumide Osunkoya has been sentenced to four years in prison in a landmark UK conviction for the illegal operation of cryptourrency ATMs. 

The 46-year-old, who pleaded guilty last September in Southwark Crown Court, has been sentenced for operating crypto ATMs – physical kiosks used to buy and sell cryptoassets – at 28 different locations via his company GidiPlus Ltd. 

Between 30 December 2021 and 12 March 2022, Osunkoya’s illegal crypto machines processed over £2.5m of transactions. 

Under UK law, it is illegal to operate crypto ATMs without registration. According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), GidiPlus had applied for approval but was refused. 

As well as operating the terminals through his company, Osunkoya also transferred several machines to a personally run network of up to 12 ATMs under a false name. 

“Your decision to continue to operate illegally was an act of deliberate and calculated defiance to the regulator… You knew full well that you were acting unlawfully,” said Judge Perrins in his sentencing. 

“You went to great lengths to create a false identity to conceal your involvement.

“Your actions were deliberate and carefully planned… It cannot be said that it is a mere regulatory breach.” 

Osunkoya’s sentence is the first-ever for unregistered crypto activity in the UK, sending a “clear message” to “those who flout our rules, seek to evade detection and engage in criminal activity”, according to Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA. 

The FCA, working alongside various police departments, launched a crackdown on crypto ATMs, which present a significant risk of allowing criminals to launder ill-gotten gains. 

Raids have taken place in suspected sites across 38 locations, including London and Leeds. 

According to CoinATMRadar, which tracks the location of crypto terminals, the number of sites advertised in the UK has fallen from more than 80 in 2022 to zero as of the end of last year. 

The UK, US, Canada and Australia have all enforced requirements that crypto ATMs be registered with the relevant authorities to operate.

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