Landry Ntahe’s gang crushed one man’s toes with pliers and pulled out another’s teeth before ramming a metal pole down his throat

The boss of one of Britain’s biggest bitcoin firms is a convicted criminal, jailed for two robberies in which victims were tied up and tortured.

Landry Ntahe’s gang crushed one man’s toes with pliers and pulled out another’s teeth before ramming a metal pole down his throat.

But Ntahe is now head of operations and company director of BCB ATM, which owns and operates 19 bitcoin cash machines.

News that Ntahe, 28, was jailed for five years in 2009 comes days after police said drug dealers and gangsters were laundering money by using bitcoin – an online, person-to-person payment that bypasses banks and uses no physical coins or notes.

The value of the currency has rocketed in recent months amid a frenzy of online speculation by investors.

Ntahe’s ATMs are in corner shops and even a cannabis store in Croydon, south London, that sells drug paraphernalia, with shopkeepers receiving a percentage of a machine’s profits.

The ATMs allow anyone to deposit sterling in exchange for bitcoin and other so-called crypto-currencies, which are held electronically and only exist in cyberspace, making them difficult to trace.

Payments can be made across borders – without the movement of actual funds – to criminal associates who can withdraw them in any currency or spend them on the dark web, which is an encrypted part of the internet often used for crime.

There are now more than a dozen firms operating bitcoin cash machines in the UK, including ones based abroad. They do not have to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, the City watchdog, further fuelling fears that bitcoin is the currency of choice for criminals.

Ntahe is now head of operations and company director of BCB ATM, which owns and operates 19 bitcoin cash machines

Some firms do not appear to have any offices, have not registered with Companies House, and may have only a mobile phone number listed on their websites.

All online currencies are highly encrypted and some are marketed specifically for the ‘privacy conscious’. Ntahe, of Islington, north London, admitted in an interview that the ‘beauty of Bitcoin’ was its anonymity.

Anyone using one of his firm’s ATMs does not need to provide any ID, and they can buy bitcoin worth up to £600 per transaction.

Payments can be made across borders – without the movement of actual funds – to criminal associates who can withdraw them in any currency or spend them on the dark web, which is an encrypted part of the internet often used for crime

BCB ATM has machines in London and Birmingham and intends to expand to every major city within 18 months. Ntahe also plans to go into schools to teach children about bitcoin.

He was jailed at 19 in 2009 for his part in the robberies. Two other men, Ashley Edwards and Ntahe’s cousin Arnold Epono, then aged 21 and 20, and also from London, were given indeterminate sentences after being found guilty on 12 counts of robbery, false imprisonment and fraud.

Ntahe was found guilty on seven counts. Ntahe, who was released after two and half years, said he was just a driver and did not take part in torture.

He learned about bitcoin from YouTube videos, and then used loans from his family to set up his company.

He admitted bitcoin could be used for money laundering, but insisted his business was responsible, adding: ‘People use bitcoin ATMs for various reasons, and sadly a minority of people do use it for unlawful purposes, like money laundering. As an industry, we must do more to make bitcoin secure and safer to use.’

Asked about his conviction he said: ‘I was young, naive and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. ‘I’ve learned a lot since then and it’s given me further drive to make a success of life.

‘I have gained a teaching qualification. I am now able to show others that you can get a second chance in life.’