Playboy fraudsters ‘couldn’t be bothered to work’ for their money

Three cryptocurrency fraudsters stole nearly £5m from eight victims by posing as police officers because they ‘couldn’t be bothered to work’, a court heard today (thurs).

Anthony Ikenwe, 28, Kevin Nwamma, 25, and Hamza Bashir, 23, enjoyed a playboy lifestyle with holidays in Maldives, fine dining and shopping sprees in Harrods.

They told ‘vics’ their accounts had been compromised and they should send the funds to them for safe keeping.

After laundering the money through property purchases, Ikenwe bragged in one message: ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees, but it grows on vics [victims].’

Ikenwe ‘shared the spoils’ with his cousin Nwamma so they could enjoy a lavish lifestyle, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Officers identified more than £1m in cryptocurrency linked to wallets controlled by Ikenwe.

Footage released by the Met shows Ikenwe and Nwamma enjoying a shopping spree together.

Another clip shows Ikenwe splashing cash in a Hermès jewellery store.

Crypto currency was also used to buya £60,000 motor and detetives also found £500,000 in cash held in a safety deposit box in Dubai.

The crooks also enjoyed holidays in Thailand, Japan, Paris, Mykonos, the Maldives and the Seychelles.

They also blew hundreds of thousands of pounds in Harrod and Louis Vuitton while dining in some of the world’s best restaurants.

Bashir was found in possession of tens of thousands of pounds of cryptocurrency and his mobile phone contained the details of new potential targets and videos of him rapping about the scam.

Ikenwe and Nwamma were jailed for six years each while Bashir was locked up for three years and nine months.

Judge Christopher Hehir said: ‘I am sure all three of you shared profound contempt for your scam victims who you called ‘vics’.

‘Scamming people because you can’t be bothered to work is a particularly low form of offending.

‘But you three are the foolish ones. You three have thrown away your good name and liberty.

‘This was sophisticated and well planned offending conducted over a series of months that took a complex police investigation to reveal.

‘People have been financially ruined, or nearly ruined. The psychological effect of what was done to them, including the calculated fear you instilled in your victims, was very substantial.’

One of the victims, Meghan Brown, said in a victim impact statement read in court: ‘On the evening of January 15, 2025 my life was irrevocably changed.

‘On that day I was already in a state of stress when I received a call from a person impersonating a law enforcement officer.

‘They used aggression to instill fear and a sense of urgency before it was too late.

‘I watched as two million dollars was drained from my account and stolen from me. My entire account was emptied.

‘I was not careless. I did not share any information with any individuals.’

She said that the call lasted for four and a half hours.

‘I believe I will always remember that call as if it just occurred, it is that vivid in my memory.

‘The financial consequences have been catastrophic and far reaching.

‘It was not abstract wealth. It was the foundation of my life and the livelihood I had built.’

Addressing the fraudsters she said: ‘You heard my voice for four-and-a-half hours. You listened to my distress and kept going.

‘You have shown zero remorse. You lived lavishly off people’s hard earned money that you stole.’

Saul Herman, prosecuting, said: ‘There are eight victims. Each was the victim of a telephone phishing fraud, which caused losses of £4.8 million.

‘The defendants impersonated police officers. They would tell the victims that a man had stolen their identities.

‘The victims were then directed to a phishing website, and were subsequently stolen from.’

One of the victims came back to the UK from a holiday in Spain to comply with the requests of the fraudsters.

‘The defendants engaged with victims globally, targeting them regardless of their location,’ the prosecutor said.

Bashir produced rap videos bragging about his offending, which Judge Hehir said was evidence of ‘greed and arrogance’.

The judge also said the videos showed Bashir ‘revelled in ill-gotten gains’ and displayed a ‘particularly distasteful contempt’ for his victims.

But Bashir was only linked to one £1m scam against Steven Lockwood, meaning his sentence was lower than Ikenwe and Nwamma who ‘enjoyed the spoils’ of eight victims between them.

Referring to the victim impact statements Mr Herman said: ‘In each statement they describe being traumatised by the fraud perpetrated against them.

‘They each describe a heavy psychological impact from the offending.’

Ikenwe, of Islington, and Nwamma, of Watford, admitted conspiracy to steal and concealing criminal property, between January and July 2025.

Bashir, of New Malden, Surrey, denied involvement but was convicted of both charges after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.