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Paul Chowles, a former officer from the UK’s National Crime Agency, has been sent to prison for stealing 50 BTC
BTC

$118,129.94

during a Silk Road 2.0 investigation, according to a July 16 report by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Chowles, who worked on the case as a technical specialist, was sentenced to five and a half years after admitting to theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing stolen funds.

Silk Road 2.0 was an online black market created shortly after the FBI closed the original Silk Road in 2013. It ran for a year before being shut down by authorities.

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When the National Crime Agency arrested co‑founder Thomas White in 2014, they seized 97 BTC from him. In 2017, investigators noticed that 50 BTC from the seized wallet had been moved to another address without explanation.

The investigation assumed White had somehow regained access to his wallet. However, he said only someone inside the agency could have done it.

They discovered that the missing Bitcoin had been sent through a service called Bitcoin Fog. From there, the funds were moved to exchanges and loaded onto crypto debit cards.

Records showed that the cards were used to spend more than £109,000, while the total benefit to Chowles was estimated to be over £613,000.

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Chowles’ role had given him direct access to White’s seized devices and accounts. During a follow‑up investigation, police found a phone linking him to the transfers and notebooks in his office containing login details and other information about White’s crypto accounts.

On July 11, Nicholas Truglia was sentenced to a 12-year prison term after failing to repay Michael Terpin, CEO of Transform Group. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.

National Crime Agency Officer Faces Jail Time Over £60,000 Bitcoin Theft

In a recent news post, Head of the CPS Special Crimes Division Malcolm McHaffie announced an indictment against National Crime Agency (NCA) officer Paul Chowles for the alleged theft of crypto assets worth £60,000 ($75,000).

Chowles, a 42-year-old man from Bristol, is accused by Merseyside Police of misappropriating 50 Bitcoin during an active probe into online organized crime in 2017. Following the sporadic growth of the BTC market in recent years, the reported loot of 50 BTC is now valued at £3.2 million ($4.2 million).

According to a statement by McHaffie, the defendant now faces 15 counts of crime relating to this offence and is expected to appear at the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on 25 April 2025.

The CPS Division Chief said:

Mr.Chowles, 42, is due to be charged with 11 offences of concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property, three offences of acquiring, using or possessing converting criminal property and a single count of theft. The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

According to UK regulations, each count of money laundering i.e. concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property could result in a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Similarly, a single charge of acquiring, using, or possessing criminal property also carries a potential 14-year sentence. However, a conviction for theft carries a maximum sentence of seven years.

Therefore, If found guilty of the charges presented, Chowles could be looking at over 200 years in prison theoretically. Albeit, that is not unlikely as typical judicial rulings usually favor concurrent sentencing.

UK To Begin Consultation On Stablecoins

In other news, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expected to release consultation papers on stablecoin regulations before Q1 2025 in line with its crypto policy roadmap released in 2024. This initiative is to gain valuable insights on stablecoin concepts such as redemption and asset backing as the HM Treasury moves to introduce new regulated activities for fixed digital assets.

Amidst this exercise, the FCA will also release discussion papers on key concepts including lending, trading platforms, and staking as the UK continues to formulate its crypto regulatory framework which is planned for implementation in 2026.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $84,391 following a 4.30% gain in the past day.

BTC trading at $84,475 on the daily chart | Source: BTCUSDT chart on Tradingview.com

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