Story perspectives

Ex-NCA officer ordered to repay £1.81 million Bitcoin

By Drooid · Sep 30, 2026, 5:59 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Paul Chowles (former NCA officer) was ordered to repay £1,810,678.93 for stolen seized Bitcoin.
He received a five-year-six-month prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court in July 2025.
Chowles took 50 Bitcoin from a confiscated wallet in 2017 while analyzing Silk Road 2.0 evidence.
Investigators recovered 30 of the stolen coins and traced the remainder through the Bitcoin Fog mixing service.
The Crown Prosecution Service warned non-payment could lead to additional imprisonment.

History

Historical Context

After the FBI seized Silk Road’s bitcoins in June 2013, including 11.02 BTC, the U.S. government continued tracing illicit crypto, exemplified by a 2020 civil forfeiture of 69,370 bitcoin from a hacked Silk Road wallet. These high-profile recoveries prompted tighter UK and U.S. asset-recovery guidelines, shaping later international crypto-laundering investigations and enforcement.

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Story summary

Paul Chowles (former NCA officer) was ordered to repay £1,810,678.93 for stolen seized Bitcoin.
He received a five-year-six-month prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court in July 2025.
Chowles took 50 Bitcoin from a confiscated wallet in 2017 while analyzing Silk Road 2.0 evidence.
Investigators recovered 30 of the stolen coins and traced the remainder through the Bitcoin Fog mixing service.
The Crown Prosecution Service warned non-payment could lead to additional imprisonment.

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