Olympic runner can’t get past charges in UK cryptocurrency fraud investigation

British runner CJ Ojah has been charged in the UK for his alleged role in a cryptocurrency scam that police say targeted victims with impersonation scams designed to steal money from cryptocurrency wallets.

The UK’s Regional Organized Crime Units (ROCUs) were announced on Thursday He said 10 people have been charged with conspiracy to defraud after coordinated raids across Kent, Essex, London and Wakefield on April 29.

“The suspects were allegedly part of an organized crime group linked to a scam that involved phone calls to multiple victims, from people claiming to be police officers and cryptocurrency companies,” the agency said in a statement.

Police said the victims were tricked into sharing initial phrases and other private wallet recovery details before discovering their cryptocurrencies had been stolen. While UK authorities have not stated the stolen cryptocurrency assets, one victim allegedly lost more than £300,000.

Seed phrases serve as recovery keys for many cryptocurrency wallets. Anyone with access to this phrase can retrieve the wallet and transfer its funds, making it a frequent target for phishing and impersonation scams.

All ten suspects appeared in court on April 30. Three people, including British athlete Brandon Mengele, were detained until the next court hearing on 28 May. The other seven suspects, including Ogah, were released on bail.

Ujah rose to prominence by helping Great Britain win gold in the 4x100m relay at the 2017 World Championships in what became Usain Bolt’s final race. He later received a 22-month ban after testing positive for banned substances at the Tokyo Olympics, costing the team its relay silver medal. Athletics authorities later ruled that tainted nutritional supplements caused the test to fail. He returned to competition in 2024, but has not raced since April 2025.

Cryptocurrency scams have become increasingly popular Social engineering and Phishing Schemes of it trick Victims to voluntarily give up access to the wallet or transfer funds. Blockchain security company Scam Sniffer said roughly 4700 Wallets were depleted by phishing attacks in January alone. In April, Elon Musk released X Rolled New features aim to stop cryptocurrency-related crimes on the site.

UK police have warned citizens to be wary of unexpected calls or messages requesting wallet information.

“Police will never call you unexpectedly about your cryptocurrencies or ask you to access your cold storage devices — this is a huge red flag,” authorities wrote. “No legitimate company or police officer will ask you for your original phrase.”