The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) seized over $62 million in Bitcoin (BTC) from a drug dealer after a judge declared the assets as proceeds of crime. Bitcoin’s use as an obfuscated asset is on the rise as this seizure is the highest yet by the governmental agency.
In an announcement by Independent.io confirms the CAB successfully completed the seizure of $62 million USD in Bitcoin, roughly 5,500 BTC at time of seizure, representing the largest recapture of digital assets by the agency.
The Irish criminal agency seized the Bitcoin from convicted drug dealer Clifton Collins, aged 49 from Crumlin, Dublin, who is accused of sale and possession of illegal drugs in ten country. According to the report, following High Court judge, Alex Owen, ruling the agency started its process of recovering the BTC, a decision that Collins did not appeal or object to.
The court passed out a freezing order on the Bitcoins that Collins owns, amounting close to €52 million dollars, such that the assets cannot be moved from the wallet in question without the court’s approval. The amount contributed to the largest value of seized digital assets by the CAB in a year, amounting to a total of €62 million so far.
The use of Bitcoin as a “masked currency” is slowly fading away as authorities become more stringent in tracking the transactions completed on Bitcoin. In August last year, British authorities nabbed close to $1 million USD in Bitcoin and returned it to supposed cyber-attack victims in its largest capture yet.
