Agent in the United Kingdom will go to prison for stealing 50 bitcoins confiscated by the police

By Hannah Pérez

An agent of the “British FBI” was sentenced to prison after having stolen 50 BTC to the police. Bitcoins have appreciated more than 600% since theft in 2017, being valued at $ 6 million currently.

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• An agent of the “British FBI” was sentenced to prison after stealing 50 BTC to the police.
• The officer took advantage of his privileged access to redirect Bitcoins to a wallet under his control.
• Bitcoins today are worth USD $ 6 million, an increase of more than 600% since their theft in 2017.

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An official in the United Kingdom will go after bars for looting the Bitcoins (BTC) of the police confiscated assets.

Paul Chowles, former officer of the National Agency against Crime (NCA), was sentenced this week to five and a half years in prison in the Liverpool Crown Court, having stolen 50 BTC that were seized by the Police.

The 50 BTC, today valued in USD $ 6 million, had been confiscated as criminal property during an NCA investment on Silk Road 2.0, a black market on the Dark Web that facilitated the sale of drugs and other illicit goods.

The NCA, an agency to apply the United Kingdom Law that fights organized crime at national and international level, collaborated with the FBI to dismantle Silk Road 2.0 and stop its creator, Thomas White, in April 2019. Chowles, who worked in the investigation, was in charge of the analysis and extraction of data and cryptocurrencies of the devices seized to White.

Taking advantage of its access to the private keys to White’s purse, the agent transferred the 50 BTC to a low direction Your control In 2017. Then, he used a cryptocurrency mixed service called Bitcoin Fog To hide the origin of the funds, dividing the coins into smaller quantities and transferring them to other portfolios.

Chowles also turned part of the funds into sterling pounds and charged them on debit cards to spend them. His career as an agent unfortunately ended his arrest in May 2022.

“He took advantage of his position in this investigation to fill his pockets while devising a plan that he believed would cover his footprints. I was wrong“, Said Chief Inspector John Black, of the Merseyside Police Force Intelligence Office.

Stolen bitcoins show more than 600%

The Merseyside police, who had initiated an investigation after noticing the absence of the Bitcoinspresented in March this year against Chowles, including a robbery charge, eleven charges of hiding, disguising or converting criminal property, and three charges of acquiring, using or possessing criminal property, depending on the reports.

Chowles, 42, declared in May guilty of a robbery charge, a charge of transfer of criminal property and a charge of concealment of criminal property in the Court of the Crown of Liverpool.

The NCA, sometimes informally called “British FBI”, fully cooperated with the investigation into its former employee and also researchers from Chainysis –An analysis firm Blockchain– played a crucial role in the case, according to The Block.

Thanks to the work of chain analysis of Chainysisthe authorities were able to track the Bitcoins stolen to the wallets controlled by Chowles, following the flow of the funds and identifying the exchanges where the BTC were charged. This evidence was key to demonstrating Chowles’s guilt and subsequently helped the police recover the Bitcoins.

The 50 BTC were worth only USD $ 77,400 at the time of the alleged robbery in 2017, but they have far been appreciated as the price of the asset has risen in recent years. Bitcoin He broke a historical price of USD $ 123,000 this week and negotiates around USD $ 120,000 at the time of writing this article.

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Hannah Estefanía Pérez / Diariobitcoin

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