Former UK Crime Officer Ordered to Repay £1.81M Over Stolen Seized Bitcoin

Former U.K. National Crime Agency officer Paul Chowles has been ordered to pay a confiscation order of £1,810,678.93, roughly $2.4 million, following his theft of 50 Bitcoin from seized assets. Chowles stole the tokens in May 2017 from a 97 Bitcoin pool confiscated from Silk Road 2.0 operator Thomas White, when the stolen assets were worth approximately £60,000. He laundered the funds through Bitcoin Fog and personal accounts. Authorities arrested Chowles in May 2022 and recovered 30 Bitcoin, subsequently sentencing him in July 2025 to five and a half years in prison.