A man who used SIM-swapping fraud to help steal almost £200,000 worth of cryptocurrency has been jailed for two and a half years.

Ajay Shinjin, 25, of Marsh Wall, Canary Wharf, received more than £44,000 of the stolen funds, which he used to fund a lavish lifestyle, including luxury holidays in Dubai, a high-end apartment and gold-plated teeth grills.

Shinjin, also known as AJ Marley Cruz, was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment at Inner London Crown Court on 8 October 2026.

He was first arrested at his flat in 2021 and was later re-arrested at Heathrow Airport in October 2023 upon returning from Dubai, after further evidence came to light. He was then charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and one count of transferring criminal property and pleaded guilty at Inner London Crown Court on 28 September 2026.

Detective Constable Simon Ardeman, from the City of London Police, said: “This was a complex and calculated fraud that caused significant financial harm to a number of victims. By deliberating exploiting SIM-swap technology, Shinjin was able to gain access to cryptocurrency accounts and steal nearly £200,000 from multiple victims’ accounts.

“SIM-swap fraud is a sophisticated and increasingly concerning form of offending, and this case demonstrates the devastating consequences it can have for victims.

“This conviction sends a clear message that those who use technology to commit fraud will be brought to justice.”

In early November 2021, BT identified unauthorised activity affecting its systems, through which customer telephone numbers had been transferred to SIM cards controlled by criminals, a practice known as SIM swapping. With a phone number under their control, criminals were able to receive one-time passcodes (OTPs) via text messages to gain access to a victim’s bank accounts or crypto wallets to access their money.

During the course of their investigation, BT identified devices used to receive ported customer telephone numbers. Each of these phones were eSIM enabled and had two IMEI numbers. Data provided by BT led to the identification of a number of suspects, including Shinjin, who was attributed to four SIM swap devices.

The investigation identified that the victims associated with the SIM swap incidents had all reported crimes occurring within the first week of November 2021.

Of the victims identified, one had around £40,000 worth of cryptocurrency stolen on 2nd November 2021, of which Shinjin received roughly £27,000 into his personal crypto account. A second victim had around £17,000 cryptocurrency stolen between the 5th and 7th November 2021, which was all later found in Shinjin’s personal crypto wallet. A third victim had approximately £8,000 taken from his Coinbase account on 3 November 2021, which Shinjin facilitated the theft of, with the money being sent elsewhere, and a fourth victim had approximately £130,000 worth of cryptocurrency stolen between 6 & 7 November 2021, which Shinjin also facilitated the theft of.

During his police interviews, Shinjin provided no comment to all questions put to him.