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Authorities in the United Kingdom are deliberating whether to keep billions of dollars in profits from confiscated Bitcoin associated with an extensive fraud case, rather than dispersing the entire, present worth to victims, as reported by the Financial Times.
As mentioned in a Thursday report by the Financial Times report, the UK High Court might choose to only compensate the initial worth of the investments, approximately 640 million British pounds ($862 million), to victims of the fraud. This is despite the confiscated 61,000 Bitcoin (BTC) being evaluated at nearly $7.24 billion as of the current writing, leading to a surplus of around $6.4 billion.
The Bitcoin was taken in 2018 from scammers in north London who deceived 128,000 investors in China. Some officials within the Treasury have silently discussed whether such a financial windfall could assist in balancing a budget deficit that may reach 30 billion pounds ($40.5 billion). Pursuant to existing regulations, assets confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act are typically routed to the Home Office or the Treasury Consolidated Fund, with compensation mandated by the court if necessary.
The FT further indicated that various government officials have recommended caution, as such decisions could result in a complicated legal conflict over the Bitcoin proceeds that might extend for years. The Treasury has been directed not to factor the funds into its calculations.
Related: US DOJ seeks to seize $225M in cryptocurrency linked to pig butchering schemes
Largest cryptocurrency confiscation in history
The assets under discussion were taken from Chinese national Zhimin Qian and her Malaysian assistant, Seng Hok Ling, who admitted guilt earlier this week. The local police department declared that it had “achieved what is considered to be the single largest cryptocurrency confiscation globally.”
The seizure resulted from a seven-year inquiry by the Economic Crime unit of the London Metropolitan Police into global money laundering. Qian confessed to obtaining and possessing illicit property, while Ling admitted to transferring illicit property.
Between 2014 and 2017, Qian orchestrated a widespread fraud operation in China, extracting funds from over 128,000 victims. These funds were subsequently stored as Bitcoin after she fled China using counterfeit documents and entered the United Kingdom.
In September 2018, Qian sought to launder the gains by acquiring real estate. Law enforcement was able to track her by monitoring Ling, leading to their capture in April 2024, along with the confiscation of encrypted devices, cash, gold, and cryptocurrency.
Related: Germany seizes $38M in cryptocurrency from Bybit hack-connected exchange
The latest in numerous cryptocurrency seizures
Earlier this month, Canadian law enforcement confiscated $40 million in cryptocurrency from TradeOgre, a move criticized by the exchange’s advocates as excessive due to the absence of Know Your Customer procedures.
In mid-August, the US Justice Department approved the confiscation of over $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, in addition to cash and other assets, as part of a criminal investigation against an alleged ransomware operator. Earlier in July, Bloomberg reported that the US Secret Service had seized nearly $400 million in digital assets over the past decade.
Sweden’s justice minister also urged local authorities to concentrate on enforcement actions that could lead to larger seizures of assets, including cryptocurrency.
In June, US crypto exchange Coinbase announced that it aided the US Secret Service in confiscating $225 million in cryptocurrency allegedly taken by scammers, marking the agency’s largest crypto confiscation to date.
Magazine: Thailand’s ‘Big Secret’ crypto heist, RWA tokens from a Chinese developer: Asia Express
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