Former UK investigator ordered to repay $2.4M over stolen 50 BTC

A former UK National Crime Agency investigator has been ordered to repay 1.81 million pounds ($2.4 million) after stealing 50 BTC from a seized wallet during a dark web probe, Decrypt reported. According to the UK Crown Prosecution Service, Bristol man Paul Chowles transferred the 50 BTC from a seized wallet to his own address in May 2017 while handling cryptocurrency analysis and extraction work on devices seized by the Silk Road 2.0 investigation team. The BTC was worth about 60,000 pounds ($77,000) at the time. Chowles then split the stolen BTC into smaller amounts, moved it through the mixing service Bitcoin Fog, and cashed out using Cryptopay and Wirex debit cards. The related transactions totaled 279 transfers worth 144,580 pounds. Chowles admitted to theft and to transferring and concealing criminal proceeds, and was sentenced to five years and six months in prison in July 2025.