Criminal who laundered £2million using cryptocurrency ATMs jailed

Bazyli Rymarz, 22, who has a house in Watford, is now in prison in one of the first prosecutions of its kind.

He was arrested in January last year after he was caught driving a £130,000 Bentley Bentayga through the port of Dover with €6,500 in a bag.

A probe of his group’s activities then launched by police and it was found that Rymarz and his group laundered around £2million between September 2018 and January 2020.

A lot of the money was moved out of Britain through bank accounts but some of the cash was hauled away physically on planes and Channel ferries.

Cryptocurrency ATMs allow people to convert virtual money such as Bitcoin and Ethereum into cash, and police say the lack of any requirement for people to show ID has made the machines popular with criminals.

Cash found in his car (Photo: Kent Police / SWNS)

Investigators found that the machines Rymarz’s group were involved with were used by fraudsters who told victims they owed money to British authorities.

The victims paid money into the ATMs, only to later find out they had been scammed.

No evidence was uncovered to show Rymarz was involved in these frauds, but he was involved in the group which had laundered the criminal money.

In March 2019 he was caught with £10,500 in cash at Luton Airport and in October £38,000 and €13,600 were found in his car when he was snared for speeding at 120mph on the M6.

Bazyli Rymarz, who had a house in Watford, has been jailed (Photo: Kent Police / SWNS)

He was arrested and released, but four months later he was stopped again at Dover in the Bentley, for which he was not insured.

Police found another £5,400 and €8,200 at his home in Watford.

Cash found in a search (Photo: Kent Police / SWNS)

Investigators found Rymarz was one of several men linked to Wedso Ltd- which was registered in the UK but had not registered for VAT and paid no corporation tax on the large amount of cash following through its coffers.

Rymarz was charged with money laundering offences but fled to Bologna, Italy in March last year after he was bailed by a British court.

He was later extradited back to Britain and convicted of being concerned in a money laundering arrangement between September 2018 and March 2020.

He was finally jailed by a judge at Canterbury Crown Court, who found he had played a “significant, not leading” role in the criminal enterprise.

Bazyli Rymarz (Photo: Kent Police / SWNS)

Detective Constable Kirsty Baker, Kent Police's investigating officer, said: “This is understood to be the first prosecution of its kind in the country and demonstrates that, as criminals adapt to new methods of laundering their proceeds of crime, the police will adapt as well. We will continue our enquiries with a view to bringing others involved to justice.”

Paul Fitzsimmons, from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit’s (ERSOU) Financial Investigation Team, said: 'The seizure and forfeiture of funds that have been derived from unlawful conduct is key to disrupting the continuing cycle of criminality.

“We will continue to make maximum use of all available legislation to ensure that no-one profits from being involved in crime.”