Former UK National Crime Agency Official Sentenced to Prison for Stealing 50 Bitcoins in Silk Road 2.0 Investigation

According to reports, a former official from the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) has been sentenced to prison for stealing 50 bitcoins during the Silk Road 2.0 investigation. Silk Road 2.0 was a successor to the original Silk Road, which was shut down by the FBI in October 2013 and its founder, Ross Ulbricht, arrested a month later. Paul Chowles, a former NCA operative involved in the investigation, was responsible for extracting and analyzing device data of Silk Road 2.0 co-founders during law enforcement operations. In May 2017, 50 out of 97 bitcoins seized were transferred, and these bitcoins were subsequently processed through the cryptocurrency mixing service Bitcoin Fog, apparently to conceal their origin. Paul Chowles has pleaded guilty to charges of theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing criminal property, and has been sentenced to over five years in prison. The UK Crown Prosecution Service estimates that he illegally profited approximately £613,150 ($821,345) from these activities.

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