Fraudster arrested naked in bed over £4m cryptocurrency scam

A fraudster involved in a £4m cryptocurrency scam was arrested naked in bed during a police raid, footage released by officers has shown.

Kevin Nwamma, 25, was visibly shaken when officers entered his bedroom in Watford on November 20 and handcuffed him.

Nwamma was part of a three-man gang that stole money from victims by posing as police officers. The group used proceeds from the fraud to buy luxury cars, designer clothing and fund shopping trips to Harrods, Hermès and Louis Vuitton.

The gang targeted eight victims between January and July 2025, telling them their cryptocurrency accounts had been compromised and persuading them to transfer funds for “safe keeping”.

They created fake police websites to trick victims into handing over access to their cryptocurrency wallets. The funds were then stolen and laundered.

Nwamma was arrested after cryptocurrency transfers from stolen wallets were traced to bank accounts linked to his chauffeur business.

*Jail terms and assets seized*  

At Southwark Crown Court, Nwamma was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit fraud and five years for money laundering, to run concurrently.

Hamza Bashir, 23, from Wimbledon, south-west London, was jailed for three years and nine months. Anthony Ikenwe, 29, from East Tilbury, Essex, received a six-year sentence.

Police seized 40 mobile phones and other digital devices during the investigation, and recovered around £1m in stolen funds.

Detectives said the gang lived a lavish lifestyle despite one member declaring an annual income of just £444.

The group bought a car worth almost £60,000 using cryptocurrency and kept £500,000 in a safety deposit box in Dubai. They also spent money on holidays to Thailand, Japan, Paris, Greece, the Maldives and the Seychelles.

Det Insp Geoff Donoghue of the Metropolitan Police’s cryptocurrency team said: “This was a highly complex investigation into a group of calculated manipulators who exploited victims’ trust by pretending to be police officers and spent other people’s money to fund their extravagant lifestyles.

“The Met’s cryptocurrency team painstakingly traced millions of pounds, combining a wide range of investigative techniques to dismantle a significant criminal network. 

“Criminals should be under no illusion — policing is evolving alongside technology. We have the capabilities to trace and seize high-value assets, and we will do everything in our power to identify those responsible for these fraudulent crimes and bring them to justice.”