• Doede Osman Khan, known online as ‘Danny Turner’, stole over 300 BTC equating to £650,000 in cryptocurrency from 28 investors.
• The Police and ActionFraud turned away the investors as they did not have the capabilities or the evidence to prosecute Khan.
• Stephen Johnson instructed Watson Woodhouse Solicitor, Bethean McCall, to represent him and the interests of 26 others.
• In May 2023, Doede Osman Khan pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud by false representation.

In 2009, the value of one Bitcoin was less than a penny. But by December 2017, the value rose to nearly $20,000, which attracted the attention of both individual and institutional investors. Nevertheless, it also drew the interest of fraudsters!

Privacy affairs study reveals scammers stole $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency globally last year. Unfortunately, the local police forces in the UK do not have the resources to investigate, so most cases of complex fraud are referred to ActionFraud. The main issues facing cryptocurrency investigations are due to the anonymity of blockchain and the global reach of users, resulting in jurisdiction being problematic.

In 2018, Bitcoin trader and YouTuber known as ‘Danny Turner’ created cryptocurrency trading content for his subscribers who paid him a monthly subscription. He groomed a group with over 50 members by sharing personal stories and enticing them with images of him with supercars and stacks of cash.

After a few months, Danny Turner convinced up to 130 people globally to invest their Bitcoin into his trading bots. He told his subscribers that his trading bots would automatically monitor the market and trade their Bitcoin at the optimum time for the best profit. In a typical Ponzi fraud scheme setup, some of the investors do see returns on their investment and therefore reinvest, sending Danny Turner even more of their Bitcoin.

Stephen Johnson, an oil rig worker from Stockton-on-Tees, stated, “He appeared genuine and lots of people vouched for him. He came across as trustworthy, often mentioning his family — someone who just wanted to help others make money through Bitcoin.”

Turner promised the investors a return profit of at least 30% and that he would return their funds at any time. Within the first month, some saw their investments increase by 41%, but when the next payment was due Danny Turner had disappeared.

Owing the investors over 300 BTC, Turner had erased his online presence and broke off all communication. Unluckily for Danny Turner, one of the investors he defrauded owned a private investigation company in Canada. Marjorie Willhelm and her husband Norman sent ‘DT’ over 5 Bitcoin. After a month-long investigation which took over the couple’s life, they finally had a breakthrough in discovering ‘Who is Daniel Turner?’.

Through trawling through dating websites, social media, and other sources of evidence, they discovered that Danny Turner was an alias, and his real name was Doede Osman Khan who lives in Shropshire, UK.

Marjorie states, “Due to Pandora’s Box Evidence Collection helping us to painstakingly collect and collate the evidence of a large group of people, we could prove that the man we knew as Danny Turner is Doede Osman Khan and he lives in the UK. His secrets of multiple aliases and online scamming behaviour were all of a sudden painfully visible.”

With the breakthrough and the thousands and thousands of pieces of evidence collected, they contacted the UK police. Surely someone will help as the man committing these crimes is doing so from his home in the UK. The police were not interested and referred the group to ActionFraud. ActionFraud claimed there was insufficient evidence for them to take the case on.

After being turned away by the Police and ActionFraud, the group felt they had hit a dead end. But In 2019, Stephen Johnson, a member of the group, attended a free law clinic at Watson Woodhouse Solicitors. Mr Johnson instructed Bethean McCall, Watson Woodhouse Solicitors, to represent him and the interests of 26 others in private prosecuting Doede Osman Khan for cryptocurrency fraud.

Bethean and her team reviewed thousands of pages of evidence and ensured no stone was left unturned. After taking witness statements from all 27 members of the group across the globe, Watson Woodhouse Solicitors formed a concrete file of evidence to present to Teesside Magistrates Court.

At the peak of COVID in 2020, Teesside Magistrates Court declined to issue a summons and reference ‘Jurisdiction’ as a contributing factor. Immediately after, Watson Woodhouse Solicitors applied to the High Court to judicially review the decision. But due to the pandemic, the Courts had closed and reopened with a backlog of cases which delayed the case for months. Before the final hour for the Judicial Review, Teesside Magistrates Court confirmed they would now reverse their decision and issued a court summons for Doede Osman Khan to attend Teesside Magistrates Court.

On 14th December 2021, Doede Osman Khan appeared at Teesside Magistrates Court but due to the value and complexity of the fraud, the case was sent to Teesside Crown Court. On 18th January 2022, the defence team stated they were making an application to dismiss the charges and a timetable was set for a hearing to take place in April 2022. In March of 2022, the defence abandoned their application to dismiss the charges and subsequently, a Crown Court trial was listed for April 2023.

After years of delays due to ActionFraud refusing to take the case on, a global pandemic delaying the Courts, judicial review of a District Judge and an application to dismiss… The case finally had a trial date!

Although there was a trial date, there was one more issue. The Courts needed the witnesses to give their evidence in person, but the witnesses lived across the world, the UK, Canada, Europe, Philippines. Thankfully covid had passed and international travel had resumed. Marjorie Wilhelm was not going to allow Doede Osman Khan to get away with his crimes. She and four other witnesses travelled halfway around the world from Canada, Spain, Sweden, and London to Middlesbrough, Teesside, for the first day of trial to give their evidence on their ordeal with Doede Khan.

On May 2nd 2023, at Teesside Crown Court the defendant pleaded guilty to seven counts of Fraud by false representation. Marjorie, Stephen and the other members of the group have spent their time in Teesside visiting different areas in the North East of England and celebrating their long awaited success at achieving justice.

On 22nd September, Khan was prosecuted and jailed for 15 months suspended for 18 after admitting seven counts of fraud.

Bethean McCall states, “This case sends a message to Cryptocurrency fraudsters that law enforcement has evolved to the point that online scams can be unravelled.  It also demonstrates to would-be investors that, whilst the internet will never be free of the risk of fraud, remedies for those affected by it do exist. Private Prosecutions offer a lifeline to those who feel as though they have hit a dead-end with Action Fraud and the police, irrespective of the alleged offence. I am delighted that we were that lifeline for so many investors around the world.”