Financial Times reported that United Kingdom officials were weighing the option of retaining billions of pounds in profits from Bitcoins seized as part a fraud investigation, instead distributing their full current value to victims.
Financial Times on Thursday, according to the article reportThe UK High Court could decide only to refund the initial value of investments, which is approximately 640 million British Pounds ($862 Million), victims of the scam. This is in spite of the 61,000 Bitcoins (BTCThe value of the, at time of publication was $7.24billion. There is an overage of $6.4billion.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. Bitcoin In 2018, scammers in North London defrauded 128,000 Chinese investors. Treasury officials privately discussed whether this windfall would help to offset the budget deficit up to 40 billion pounds. Under existing rulesAssets seized by the proceeds of crime act are generally paid to the Treasury Consolidated Fund or Home Office, and a court may order compensation if necessary.
According to The FT, other officials in the government have also urged caution because such a move could lead to a long-lasting and complex legal dispute over Bitcoin profits. Treasury was instructed to not use these funds when calculating its budget.
Related: US DOJ files to seize $225M in crypto tied to pig butchering schemes
Largest crypto seizure in history
Assets were taken from Chinese citizen Zhimin Qian, and Seng Hok Ling her Malaysian Assistant, both of whom pleaded guilty this week. Police in the area announced Then it was “made what is believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world.”
This seizure was the result of a seven-year long investigation into money laundering by London Metropolitan Police’s Economic Crime team. Qian and Ling both pleaded guilt to possession of criminal goods, as well as acquiring them.
Qian was responsible for a massive fraud scam in China between 2014-2017, where she stole assets from 128,000 people. The assets she stole were stored in Bitcoins when she left China with false papers and entered Britain.
Qian tried to acquire property in September 2018 and launder proceeds. By surveilling Ling in April 2024 the police found her. They also seized encrypted devices, money, gold, and cryptocurrency.
Related: Germany seizes $38M in crypto from Bybit hack-linked eXch exchange
Crypto seizures continue to increase
Canadian police have been busy this past month. seized $40 million in crypto from TradeOgreThe supporters of the exchange have criticised the lack Know Your Customer checks.
Mid-August is when the US Justice Department releases its annual report. authorized the seizure of more than $2.8 million in cryptocurrencyAs part of the criminal case brought against a alleged ransomware attacker, seized assets include cash, gold, and jewelry. Bloomberg reported in early July that the US Secret Service was investigating ransomware. seized nearly $400 million in digital assets over the past decade.
The Justice Minister of Sweden also urged local authorities to focus on crackdowns that could yield larger seizures of assetsIncluded in this is cryptocurrency.
Coinbase has announced its support for the Bitcoin blockchain in the United States. US Secret Service seize $225 million in crypto allegedly stolen by scammersThis is the largest crypto-seizure made by the Agency to date.
Magazine: Thailand’s ‘Big Secret’ crypto hack, Chinese developer’s RWA tokens: Asia Express
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Source: cointelegraph.com
