The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has secured convictions against David Greenhalgh and Christos Farmakis at Southwark Crown Court, following a trial that commenced on 7 April 2026. Both were convicted under the Export Control Order 2008, SI 2008/3231, of being knowingly concerned in acts calculated to promote the unlicensed supply or delivery of controlled goods to embargoed destinations. Greenhalgh, owner and controlling director of the Airservices group of companies, was convicted of 10 counts, while Farmakis, a Greek national tried in his absence, was convicted of 9 counts. The offences relate to conduct between July 2009 and December 2016, involving the attempted brokering of controlled military goods—including surface-to-air missile systems, Mi-24 combat helicopter gunships and AK-47 assault rifles—sourced from former Soviet states and Eastern European countries. The intended destinations included Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Iran, all of which were embargoed under UK law at the relevant time. The Export Control Joint Unit confirmed that no licence enquiries or applications were made by or on behalf of either defendant or any of the Airservices companies in connection with any of the alleged transactions. Sentencing is listed for 22 July 2026 at Southwark Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has secured the first conviction under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000 for failing to report art sales to a suspected terrorist financier. London gallery owner Oghenochuko Ojiri was sentenced on 6 June 2025 to two and a half years imprisonment after being convicted on eight offences. These offences relate to art sales amounting to £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad—a sanctioned Hizballah financier—executed between October 2020 and December 2021. This conviction comes in the wake of the January 2020 regulations that brought art market participants under the regulatory framework for terrorist financing compliance, underscoring the increased scrutiny on art sales linked to terrorist activities. The case sets a precedent for implementing anti-terrorism financing regulations within the art market.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced the conviction and sentencing of Charlie Johnson and Prince Singh at Woolwich Crown Court in the first jury trial to secure convictions for assisting or encouraging serious self-harm under the Online Safety Act 2023. Prosecutors proved that both men coerced two girls, aged as young as 16, into acts of self-harm while creating and distributing indecent images of them in online chat rooms. Johnson was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and Singh to two years and nine months after the CPS demonstrated a sustained pattern of coercive online abuse and child sexual exploitation. The CPS stated that the case highlights the growing complexity of digital offending and aligns with its Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy for 2025–30.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that two defendants were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court for money laundering connected to a £600m Chinese cryptocurrency investment fraud. Zhimin Qian received a sentence of 11 years and eight months after pleading guilty to charges of possessing criminal cryptocurrency and money laundering, while Senghok Ling was sentenced to four years and 11 months for possessing criminal cryptocurrency. The case represents the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history, involving more than 60,000 Bitcoin and other assets currently valued at £4.8bn, which remain subject to confiscation proceedings.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that its Civil Recovery Team secured a six-figure settlement on 4 April 2025 with Ms Krasniqi, the common law partner of a man suspected of involvement in Swedish organised crime who was assassinated in Battersea. The civil recovery proceedings focused on funds used to purchase two London properties, which the CPS suspected originated from two Swedish nationals convicted of fraud in Sweden. Ms Krasniqi failed to provide reasonable explanation for the source of the funds but denied criminal involvement and the High Court made no findings of unlawful conduct. The case demonstrates the CPS's use of non-conviction based civil recovery powers, which enable asset recovery without criminal conviction where it can be shown that assets or money came from 'unlawful conduct'.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has successfully obtained Confiscation Orders totalling £23,629,031 against three individuals convicted of a high-value cryptocurrency fraud. Stephen William Boys, Kelly Caton and Jordan Kane Robinson were ordered to pay back criminal proceeds after exploiting a loophole in an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, dishonestly obtaining over £20m. The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division worked closely with Lancashire Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit to identify and recover assets. This case demonstrates the CPS's ability to target international proceeds of cyber-enabled crime, with £450m recovered from Confiscation Orders in the last five years, including £88m returned to victims as compensation.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police, has obtained a Confiscation Order of £3,126,572 against Jian Wen, a former takeaway worker convicted of money laundering. Wen, who was previously sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment for laundering proceeds from cryptocurrency fraud, must pay the order within three months or face an additional seven years in prison. The case stemmed from a large-scale investigation that resulted in the seizure of Bitcoin wallets valued at over £300m. Despite Wen's claims of legitimate employment, the court determined her criminal benefit to be £3,500,113. This outcome underscores the CPS's commitment to asset recovery, with over £450m recouped from Confiscation Orders in the past five years.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has secured a Confiscation Order of £5,603,305.81 against professional money launderer Seng Hok Ling, who assisted Zhimin Qian in laundering cryptocurrency linked to a large‑scale investment fraud in China involving losses of approximately £600m and over 128,000 victims. Ling, who converted and transferred Bitcoin for Qian and provided further criminal assistance while she evaded capture, must repay the sum within three months or face an additional eight‑year prison term following his earlier sentence of four years and 11 months.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published an article on the imprisonment of an individual that posed as a car salesman and defrauded over 200 car buyers out of more than £1m. CPS states the man in question has been sentenced to nine years for 22 offences of fraud and one offence of money laundering as he led a fake car selling operation and persuaded the victims to pay large sums of money for second-hand vehicles, or for a vehicle that did not exist. CPS confirms that those assisting the illegal laundering activity have also been sentenced, with one individual receiving 20 months and the other 27 months. CPS continues to recover the stolen money from the convicted individuals.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced the sentencing of a mother on 20 May 2021, for stealing her disabled daughter’s personal health budget. Helen Maher was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and suspended for 18 months at Chester Crown Court. The CPS has said that evidence was shown that payments amounting to £73,106.97 were paid into Maher’s bank account by the Clinical Commissioning Group between 3 May 2017–16 April 2019 for the benefit of her daughter’s care. The funds were diverted into a different account under Maher’s control, and spent on gambling, foreign holidays and to pay household bills. Maher admitted to theft during the investigation led by the NHS. In addition to the suspended sentence, Maher was ordered to pay compensation of £6,000 at a rate of £300 per month and a 25-day rehabilitation order.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)’s revised guidance sets out a more structured escalation and assurance process where the CPS is asked to take over a private prosecution. It requires written decisions and senior endorsement, provides for Special Crime Division assurance before decisions are communicated, and addresses evidence requests, extradition, confiscation and compensation more explicitly. The guidance also incorporates the Court of Appeal’s decision in R v BDI [2025] EWCA Crim 1289 on prosecution costs; a private prosecutor’s failure to involve state prosecutors may be relevant when costs from central funds are assessed, with substantial prosecutions potentially limited to CPS-equivalent rates.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has updated its guidance for witnesses to clarify that victims of crime can remain in court and sit in the public gallery after they have given evidence without fearing that this will negatively affect the outcome or jeopardise the prosecution. The updated guidance advises prosecutors to take the time to explain what sitting in the public gallery can involve so victims can be make an informed decision. Likewise, prosecutors should consider whether it would be possible for victims or witnesses to attend remotely.