Briefly
- A former UK Nationwide Crime Company officer, Paul Chowles, was sentenced to 5 and a half years for stealing 50 Bitcoin throughout a 2017 investigation into Silk Street 2.0.
- The stolen BTC’s worth has risen from $77,000 on the time of the theft to over $5.6 million.
- Chowles used a mixing service, Bitcoin Fog, to launder the funds throughout tons of of transactions.
A former Nationwide Crime Company officer who stole 50 BTC from a criminal offense community he was investigating has been sentenced to 5 and a half years in jail after his year-long deception was revealed by means of forensic blockchain evaluation.
Paul Chowles from Bristol was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court docket on Tuesday after pleading responsible to theft, transferring legal property, and concealing legal property, in line with a Crown Prosecution Service assertion.
Chowles was first charged in March 2025 with 15 counts of legal offenses associated to the theft of fifty BTC—which on the time of the theft was value $77,000 (£60,000), however has since risen to $5.6 million, as Bitcoin’s worth rose to over $120k.
The officer, who was thought to be “competent, technically minded and really conscious of the darkish internet and cryptocurrencies,” exploited his place throughout a 2017 investigation into the darkish internet market Silk Street 2.0 to steal Bitcoin.
The accused was a part of the NCA crew investigating Thomas White, who had launched Silk Street 2.0 lower than a month after the FBI shut down the unique web site in 2013, in line with the assertion.
White was subsequently jailed for 64 months in April 2019. Throughout the investigation, Chowles took the lead in analyzing and extracting crypto from White’s seized gadgets.
Chowles transferred the stolen Bitcoin from White’s “retirement pockets” to numerous accounts between Might 6-7, 2017, breaking down the crypto into smaller quantities and routing it by means of Bitcoin Fog, a crypto mixer service designed to obscure transaction trails.
“He took benefit of his place engaged on this investigation by lining his personal pockets whereas devising a plan that he believed would be sure that suspicion would by no means fall upon him,” mentioned Alex Johnson, Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service’s Particular Crime Division.
Chowles transformed the stolen crypto utilizing Cryptopay and Wirex debit playing cards, making 279 transactions totaling $144,580 (£144,580) earlier than being caught.
The investigation revealed he had notebooks in his workplace containing usernames, passwords, and statements regarding White’s crypto accounts.
The theft was initially attributed to White himself, with the NCA assuming he had by some means accessed his pockets whereas in custody.
Nevertheless, White persistently denied involvement, and by late 2021, the lacking Bitcoin had been written off as untraceable.
Merseyside Police cracked the case with the assistance of blockchain evaluation agency Chainalysis, which traced the funds regardless of their passage by means of mixing providers.
After 5 years of dormancy, authorities recovered gadgets containing non-public keys throughout a 2022 search of Chowles’ residence.
Detective Chief Inspector John Black from Merseyside Police’s Drive Intelligence Bureau mentioned the case confirmed “within the starkest phrases that no person is above the legislation.”
The investigation benefited from enhanced powers granted to the NCA in 2024, permitting the company to “seize, freeze and destroy” crypto utilized by criminals with out requiring arrests.
Chowles has since been dismissed from the NCA on July 11, in line with the assertion, and the Crown Prosecution Service will now pursue confiscation proceedings to recuperate the proceeds of crime.
Every day Debrief Publication
Begin day-after-day with the highest information tales proper now, plus authentic options, a podcast, movies and extra.