Habibur Rahman, a crypto trader from East Ham, London, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to running an illegal crypto ATM business and laundering £300,000 (about $395,000) in criminal cash.
Rahman was arrested in April 2023 after police raided his mobile phone shop in Chatham, Kent, where they seized several crypto ATMs. According to the BBC, a spokesperson for Kent Police confirmed the details. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires all crypto ATM operators to register with them, a rule Rahman allegedly ignored.
In his court appearance at Medway Magistrates’ Court, Rahman faced charges for operating an unregulated business and illegally converting cash to cryptocurrency between April and June 2022. Matthew Long, the FCA’s director of payments and digital assets, emphasized the risks of using these machines, warning that customers might be unwittingly giving their money to criminals.
This case is part of a broader crackdown by the FCA on unregistered crypto activities. Recently, another London trader, Olumide Osunkoya, was charged with operating multiple illegal crypto ATMs that processed £2.6 million (around $3.4 million) in transactions. Osunkoya has since pleaded guilty to five offenses, marking the first conviction of its kind in the UK.
As the FCA ramps up its enforcement efforts, this case highlights the need for regulatory oversight in the cryptocurrency sector to protect consumers and maintain financial integrity.
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