Emma RadmoreOlumide Osunkoya, who operated crypto ATMs at 28 locations through his company, Gidiplus Limited, while not being FCA registered to do so, has been jailed for 4 years. The FCA had refused Gidiplus’ application for registration under the MLRs, and Mr Osunkuya subsequently transferred some of the machines and operated them under a false name and company. The court also convicted him of forgery, using false identity documents and possessing criminal property.
This is the first sentence for unregistered crypto activity and follows the FCA’s operation to tackle illegal crypto ATMs, which has resulted in no crypto ATMs being advertised as available in the UK in 2024 whereas CoinATMRadar advertised 80 in 2022.