UK’s first crypto ATM charge claims phone shop owner laundered $400K
UK police issued the country’s first-ever crypto ATM indictment after accusing a man from London of operating an illegal machine and laundering £300,000 ($395,000).
Habibur Rahman was charged on Wednesday over a year after he was arrested in April 2023.
UK police seized various crypto ATMs from the 37-year-old who ran a mobile phone shop in Chatham, Kent. Rahman is accused of laundering the hundreds of thousands of pounds by converting it into crypto.
The UK’s Finacial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a crypto ATM ban in 2022, warning machine holders they must be registered with the FCA. The regulator subsequently launched a crackdown on unregistered crypto ATMs.
By July 2023, Blockworks had reported, using data from CoinATM radar, that there were fewer than 10 crypto ATMs left in the country. Now CoinATM Radar estimates that there are no longer any of the machines in the UK.
Read more: FCA too slow on crypto enforcement, says UK’s spending watchdog
Indeed, the FCA’s Director of Payments and Digital Assets Matthew Long said, “There are currently no crypto ATMs registered with the FCA — so if you’re using one of these machines you could be handing your money to criminals.”
He added, “We continue to remind people that crypto remains largely unregulated and high risk; if you buy it, you should be prepared to lose all your money.”
Rahman is on bail and is scheduled to attend Medway Magistrates’ Court on October 10.
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