Police seize bitcoins for the first time in robbery case

It became known that the Supreme Court of Edinburgh approved the forfeiture of 23.5 BTC in the case of John Ross Rennie.

The defendant was involved in a robbery in Blantyre in 2020. This is reported by the BBC.

In early 2020, a group of unknown assailants broke into a couple’s home in the town of Blantyre.

One of the attackers threatened the man living in the house with a machete, demanding that he transfer bitcoins to him.

After the victim, whose name is being withheld in the interest of the investigation, transferred the crypto assets, the group of attackers disappeared.

According to the case file, John Ross Rennie was not directly involved in the raid.

However, prosecutors proved that he advised the attackers on the transfer of crypto assets and stored them for some time.

In November 2023, he was sentenced to six months of court supervision and 150 hours of corrective labor.

However, in doing so, the police failed to confiscate the bitcoins because they were not accessible.

The prosecutor’s office reclaimed the crypto assets using proceeds of crime legislation.

The court decision notes that the 23.5 BTC is valued at £109,601 (about $143,000). 

As is known, in November 2023, the UK authorities passed a bill on the confiscation of crypto-assets.