On 13 July 2021 the Metropolitan Police seized £180m worth of Bitcoin believed to be linked to money laundering. This announcement comes some mere weeks after the Police confiscated what was the previous record set of £114m on 24 June 2021.
Cryptocurrency| Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team
A 39-year-old woman, arrested on suspicion of money laundering on 24 June 2021 has been interviewed over the new seizure. She was interviewed under caution before she was bailed to a later date in July.
The Metropolitan Police’s Economic Crime Command made the seizure after following up on intelligence received about the transfer of criminal assets.
DC Joe Ryan stated that, “less than a month ago we successfully seized £114m in cryptocurrency. Our investigation since then has been complex and wide-ranging. We have worked hard to trace this money and identify the criminality it may be linked to.” He further added that the “seizure is another significant landmark in this investigation which will continue for months to come as we home in on those at the centre of this suspected money-laundering operation.”
Bitcoin is an online currency that is created using computer code. The currency is stored in virtual wallets known as blockchains and operates without using banks as middlemen, a form of peer to peer currency exchange which increases anonymity. The currency was invented in 2009 by an individual who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto, however to date this person has not been found or identified themselves.
One Bitcoin is currently worth £23,500, having fallen from £47,126 at its peak, meaning the £180m confiscated by the Police may have been worth nearly double three months ago.
Within a month the Police have seized almost £300m worth of cryptocurrency. It is likely we will see more cash seizures of this nature as the rise in crimes involving cryptocurrency continues. For more information about the earlier confiscation that took place on 24 June 2021, please see our earlier article.
The Police’s money laundering investigation continues. Our Financial Crime team will provide further updates as they arise.
Rosenblatt can help
Rosenblatt has a wealth of experience in financial crime and is uniquely placed to support clients that are the subject of investigations by the Police having being involved in some of the most high profile investigations into multi-million-pound, cross jurisdictional fraud cases in the UK.
https://www.rosenblatt-law.co.uk/services/financial-crime/#financial-crime
https://www.rosenblatt-law.co.uk/services/serious-and-general-crime/
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