Attorney at Law – Dr. Jur. Marius R. Stef
L&S Law Firm Ltd
Insights | 29 September 2026
Introduction
On 28 September 2026, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) announced that Southwark Crown Court had made confiscation orders against Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga following an FCA prosecution of a fake-cryptoasset investment fraud. According to that announcement, Bedi was ordered to pay £603,404.28 and Mavanga £247,997.99. The FCA states that between February 2017 and June 2019 the pair operated a fraudulent investment scheme that cold-called consumers into fake cryptoasset opportunities through companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP, and that at least 65 investors lost £1,541,799. In July 2025, after the same FCA prosecution, Bedi was sentenced to five years and four months’ imprisonment and Mavanga to six years and six months’ imprisonment.
This article sets out the public facts drawn from the named FCA press releases, then offers our firm’s investor-protection observations. The commentary under “Our thoughts” is that of Attorney at Law – Dr. Jur. Marius R. Stef and L&S Law Firm Ltd. The factual narrative that follows is drawn only from those primary FCA sources. Where this matter is concerned, guilty pleas, convictions, sentences, and confiscation orders have been announced by the FCA as court outcomes. Readers should still consult the primary FCA announcements for the authoritative account.
Background
According to the FCA’s conviction announcement of 7 November 2024 and its later sentencing and confiscation releases, between February 2017 and June 2019 Raymondip Bedi, of Bromley, and Patrick Mavanga, of Peckham, cold-called consumers and directed them to a professional-looking website where they were offered high returns for fake investments in cryptoassets. The FCA states that the group operated companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP, and that at least 65 investors were defrauded of £1,541,799.
The FCA’s conviction release records that Bedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and money-laundering offences. Mavanga pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and possession of false identification documents with an improper intention. The same announcement states that Mavanga was also convicted of perverting the course of justice for deleting phone-call recordings after Bedi’s arrest in March 2019. A fourth individual, Rowena Bedi, was acquitted of the money-laundering charge she faced. The FCA further notes that another individual, Minas Filippidis, remains wanted in relation to the same offences.
On 4 July 2025, His Honour Judge Griffiths sentenced both men at Southwark Crown Court. According to the FCA’s sentencing announcement, Bedi received five years and four months and Mavanga six years and six months. The sentencing judge is quoted by the FCA as stating that both were leading players in a conspiracy in which victims were persuaded to invest in a “crypto currency consultancy,” and that they had conspired to drive a coach and horses through the regulatory system. That announcement also recorded that confiscation proceedings were continuing.
The confiscation orders
On 28 September 2026, the FCA announced that Southwark Crown Court had made confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. According to that release, Bedi was ordered to pay £603,404.28 and Mavanga £247,997.99. The FCA states that it has identified and contacted victims and will ensure that funds recovered through the confiscation process are returned to them. The same announcement notes that if the orders are not paid within three months, Bedi faces up to an additional five years in prison and Mavanga up to an additional two years.
Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, is quoted in the confiscation announcement as stating that Bedi and Mavanga defrauded investors and left them out of pocket, that the orders bring victims a step closer to getting money back, and that the FCA will keep coming after fraudsters and holding them to account.
Our thoughts
A cold call plus a polished website plus “high returns in crypto” is a classic diligence gap. The operational question for any individual, family office, or compliance function is not whether the pitch sounds modern. It is whether the firm is authorised to do what it claims, whether the product exists outside the sales script, and whether custody of funds can be confirmed independently of the caller.
Cold approaches that arrive without a prior relationship, especially where the caller steers the recipient to a website that the recipient did not independently find, are a structural red flag. Independent investors should insist on checking the FCA Register before any money moves, matching the firm name, permissions, and individuals to what appears on that register, and refusing any crypto or “consultancy” allocation that cannot show authorised status and segregated custody. A story about cryptoasset opportunity is not a substitute for proof that the investment exists, that the firm is permitted to arrange it, and that the money will sit where the brochure says it will sit.
The confiscation stage of this matter also underlines a second lesson. Even after conviction and sentence, recovery of investor loss depends on identifiable assets and a court process under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Prevention remains cheaper than recovery. Promised high returns on unsolicited crypto pitches that cannot be reconciled to an authorised firm, a real product, and independent custody are not a product feature. They are a warning.
Our firm view is straightforward: an unsolicited crypto investment pitch that cannot show FCA authorisation, independent custody, and a verifiable asset or strategy is not yet an investment. It is a story about one. Verify the caller, the Register entry, and the cash trail before any transfer.
Sources
Financial Conduct Authority, *FCA secures money back for victims of crypto fraud* (28 September 2026): https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-secures-money-back-victims-crypto-fraud
Financial Conduct Authority, *Two individuals sentenced to a combined 12 years for £1.5m crypto fraud* (4 July 2025): https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/two-individuals-sentenced-combined-12-years-crypto-fraud
Financial Conduct Authority, *FCA secures convictions against two individuals for £1.5m fraud* (7 November 2024): https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-secures-conviction-against-two-individuals-fraud
Important notice
This article is for general information and investor-education purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor–client (or attorney–client) relationship. Factual statements herein about the Bedi and Mavanga matter are drawn from the named FCA press releases describing guilty pleas, convictions, sentences, and confiscation orders. Nothing herein is a finding of fact beyond what those authorities expressly state.
A guilty plea, a court-imposed sentence, and a confiscation order establish the criminal and POCA dispositions described by the announcing agency. Readers should consult the primary sources cited above and take independent professional advice before acting.
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