Crypto fraudster jailed for eight years over $2.7 million theft plot directed from prison

A Scottish court sentenced Robert Barr to eight years' imprisonment for orchestrating an attempted £2 million ($2.7 million) cryptocurrency theft from his prison cell at HMP Edinburgh.

Barr was serving a 21-month sentence for cryptocurrency-related fraud when he organized the operation. The High Court in Glasgow sentenced him alongside Sean Favier, who received four years, and Iain Doyle, who was jailed for five years.

The trio pleaded guilty to involvement in serious organized crime prior to their sentencing, the court said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Barr planned to access victims' crypto wallets remotely

According to the court's account, the plan relied on AnyDesk, software that allows users to access and control another computer remotely. Barr wanted his accomplices to get inside the victims' home and make the homeowner download the program, allowing him to control the couple's computer remotely from prison.

Once connected, Barr planned to enter a receiving cryptocurrency address and move funds from the victims' wallet into accounts under his control.

However, the plan didn't get that far. The court heard that Favier and Doyle arrived at a couple's home at about 11:30 p.m. on April 17, 2024, but the occupants spotted them on their doorbell camera and refused to open the door. The pair left without gaining entry.

"This was a crime which married 21st-century computer sophistication with old-fashioned housebreaking," Lord Cubie said when sentencing the men.

The court was told that investigators uncovered Barr's failed heist after seizing his phone on June 25, 2024 and finding messages detailing his role in and instructions to Favier and Doyle. 

Addressing Barr's previous conviction on crypto-related fraud, the judge said his decision to organize another offence from prison was a "material aggravating factor."

"In terms of the sentence to be imposed if you had been found guilty after trial, I would have imposed a sentence of eight years and ten months," the judge said. 

Barr faces a serious crime prevention hearing on Nov. 17.