Latest news with #Chowles
AsiaOne
3 days ago
- AsiaOne
Ex-UK National Crime Agency officer jailed for stealing bitcoin from dark web drug dealer, World News
LONDON — An officer with Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) who stole cryptocurrency from the operator of an illegal dark web marketplace was jailed on Wednesday for 5 to 1 and a half years. The NCA was investigating the Silk Road 2.0 site — which allowed users to buy drugs and other illicit goods after the original Silk Road was shut down by the FBI in 2013 — and arrested Liverpool-based Thomas White in 2014. Intelligence officer Paul Chowles took the details of White's "retirement wallet" and stole 50 bitcoin before sending it to a cryptocurrency "mixing" service called Bitcoin Fog to obscure the source, prosecutors said. Chowles, 42, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court having pleaded guilty to one count of theft, one count of transferring criminal property, and one count of concealing criminal property. Prosecutor Craig Hassall said the bitcoin Chowles stole was worth just under 60,000 pounds (S$100,000) at the time of the theft in May 2017 and is now worth over 4 million pounds, though Chowles had realised nearly 145,000 pounds. Chowles was dismissed by the NCA this month for gross misconduct after his guilty pleas, having been arrested in 2022. The NCA initially thought White, who was jailed in 2019 for over five years, had managed to access his bitcoin wallet and remove the 50 missing bitcoin, Hassall said. The remaining 47 bitcoin in White's wallet were sold by the NCA for roughly 500,000 pounds, and the funds paid towards a 1.5 million-pound confiscation order made against White. But police and the NCA began to investigate after White said he was not responsible for moving the 50 bitcoin, and usernames and passwords linked to White's cryptocurrency accounts were found in Chowles' notebooks when he was arrested. Judge David Aubrey said bitcoin worth nearly 470,000 pounds was seized from Chowles, telling him: "Had you not been arrested, you would have continued to reap the rewards of your wrongdoing." [[nid:718198]]
Metro
4 days ago
- Metro
NCA officer jailed for swiping Bitcoin now worth £4,300,000 from Dark Web suspec
A National Crime Agency (NCA) officer who stole Bitcoin from a hacker's USB stick has been jailed. Paul Chowles, 42, was investigating university drop-out Thomas White, from Liverpool, the 'guiding mind' behind running the Silk Road, an online black market for illegal drugs. The father-of-three waited 'until the coast was clear' before he began spending £144,000 of the converted cryptocurrency on nursery fees. When he was arrested in 2017 White owned 97 Bitcoin on a memory stick which was seized and transferred to a team including digital investigator Chowles at the National Crime Agency in Bristol. Father-of-three Chowles used his technical knowledge – and the lack of expertise in the relatively new phenomena of cryptocurrencies by law enforcement – to swipe 50 Bitcoin from White to himself in May 2017. At the time it was worth £59,000 – but it is now worth more than £4.3 million, Craig Hassall KC, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court. Chowles, who has children aged two, five and seven and whose wife has now divorced him, admitted at an earlier hearing theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing criminal property, between 2017 and 2022. Passing sentence, Judge David Aubrey KC said: 'The gravamen of these offences is your betrayal of the trust of the NCA you were serving. 'You were in a position of privilege and power. You had arrested Thomas White and you abused that privilege and power placed in you. 'You were there to serve the public. You did not. You were serving yourself for your own ends. 'Honesty should have been in your DNA, but it was not.' Earlier, Mr Hassall told the court that after White was released from jail in 2022, he told the authorities 50 of his Bitcoins were missing. Chowles, a £33,000-a-year NCA officer, then came under suspicion. White told the NCA the Bitcoin could only have been moved from his digital wallet by somebody within the NCA because they had access to the private keys for his cryptocurrency wallet and that it was an 'inside job'. Chowles was arrested at the NCA offices on May 19, 2022 and his home searched and devices seized. He was suspended by the NCA and placed under investigation before being sacked. At the time of Chowles's arrest, 20 Bitcoin were recovered from his devices and 10 more were later located in another account. The other 20 has been spent. Mr Hassall said though the Bitcoin had been stolen in 2017, Chowles only began converting and spending the digital currency in 2021, because he probably assumed 'the coast was clear' and he had got away with the theft. The court heard Chowles did not convert the Bitcoin into cash to live the 'high life' or have a flashy lifestyle. Instead, he converted around £144,000 from Bitcoin into cash to spend on day-to-day living expenses in supermarkets and to pay for his children's nursery fees. Will Parkhill, defending Chowles, said: 'He did not do the right thing. It was dishonest and dishonest not once, but on a number of occasions. 'It seems at the time he was suffering from anxiety and depression. It seems at the time he was dealing with undiagnosed autism. 'He feels shame and remorse. Mr Chowles destroyed his life and it had serious impact on other people.' Alex Johnson, specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime division, said: 'Within the NCA, Paul Chowles was regarded as someone who was competent, technically minded and very aware of the dark web and cryptocurrencies. 'He took advantage of his position working on this investigation by lining his own pockets while devising a plan that he believed would ensure that suspicion would never fall upon him. 'Once he had stolen the cryptocurrency, Paul Chowles sought to muddy the waters and cover his tracks by transferring the Bitcoin into mixing services to help hide the trail of money. 'He made a large amount of money through his criminality, and it is only right that he is punished for his corrupt actions. 'The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position in power for financial gain.' A National Crime Agency spokesperson said: 'We understand and fully share the concern this case will cause the public we serve. The former officer was sacked for gross misconduct. 'The NCA expects the highest standards of conduct and behaviour from all our officers, and we are committed to taking robust action against anyone who falls short of those standards, as we did in this case, resulting in an investigation fully supported by the agency's anti-corruption unit.' MORE: Boy, 15, admits to throwing chair over Stratford Westfield balcony MORE: Heartbroken mum dies a year after son, 6, was killed by drink-driver MORE: Triple murderer Nicholas Prosper spared whole life sentence after appeal refused
ITV News
4 days ago
- ITV News
NCA officer jailed for theft of Bitcoin worth millions he had seized in drugs investigation
ITV News' Anna Youssef reports from the sentencing of Paul Chowles at Liverpool Crown Court. A serving officer for the National Crime Agency has been jailed after he stole close to £60,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Liverpool drug dealer. Paul Chowles admitted laundering fifty bitcoin he'd seized from Thomas White in 2022 when White was under investigation for running an illegal drug-selling site on the dark web. White was later jailed for five years. The bitcoin Chowles stolen would be worth more than £4m today. The theft was only discovered when White, now released on licence, was subjected to a proceeds of crime investigation and queried where the missing currency was after it had been seized during the investigation. Merseyside Police opened a case, leading to the arrest of Chowles, 42, from Bristol who eventually pleaded guilty to theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing criminal property. He was jailed for five years and six months on Wednesday 16 July and has already been sacked by the NCA. Detective Chief Inspector John Black, from Merseyside Police's Force Intelligence Bureau, said: "This case should illustrate in the starkest terms that nobody is above the law. "When it became clear that one of the NCA's own officers had stolen Bitcoin, our officers conducted extensive enquiries to unearth a trail of evidence that Chowles had attempted to hide. "He took advantage of his position on this investigation to line his own pockets while devising a plan that he believed would cover his tracks. He was wrong. " Several notebooks were discovered in Chowles' office which contained usernames, passwords, and statements relating to White's cryptocurrency accounts. It is estimated Chowles benefited to the value of £613,147.29 through his criminality. Alex Johnson, Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime Division, said: 'Chowles took advantage of his position working on this investigation by lining his own pockets while devising a plan that he believed would ensure that suspicion would never fall upon him. 'Once he had stolen the cryptocurrency, Paul Chowles sought to muddy the waters and cover his tracks by transferring the Bitcoin into mixing services to help hide the trail of money. 'He made a large amount of money through his criminality, and it is only right that he is punished for his corrupt actions."
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Ex-UK National Crime Agency officer jailed for stealing bitcoin from dark web drug dealer
FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin are seen in this illustration taken November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -An officer with Britain's National Crime Agency who stole cryptocurrency from the operator of an illegal dark web marketplace was jailed on Wednesday for 5-1/2 years. The NCA was investigating the Silk Road 2.0 site – which allowed users to buy drugs and other illicit goods after the original Silk Road was shut down by the FBI in 2013 – and arrested Liverpool-based Thomas White in 2014. Intelligence officer Paul Chowles took the details of White's "retirement wallet" and stole 50 bitcoin before sending it to a cryptocurrency "mixing" service called Bitcoin Fog to obscure the source, prosecutors said. Chowles, 42, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court having pleaded guilty to one count of theft, one count of transferring criminal property, and one count of concealing criminal property. Prosecutor Craig Hassall said the bitcoin Chowles stole was worth just under 60,000 pounds (around $80,000) at the time of the theft in May 2017 and is now worth over 4 million pounds, though Chowles had realised nearly 145,000 pounds. Chowles was dismissed by the NCA this month for gross misconduct after his guilty pleas, having been arrested in 2022. The NCA initially thought White, who was jailed in 2019 for over five years, had managed to access his bitcoin wallet and remove the 50 missing bitcoin, Hassall said. The remaining 47 bitcoin in White's wallet were sold by the NCA for roughly 500,000 pounds, and the funds paid towards a 1.5 million-pound confiscation order made against White. But police and the NCA began to investigate after White said he was not responsible for moving the 50 bitcoin, and usernames and passwords linked to White's cryptocurrency accounts were found in Chowles' notebooks when he was arrested. Judge David Aubrey said bitcoin worth nearly 470,000 pounds was seized from Chowles, telling him: "Had you not been arrested, you would have continued to reap the rewards of your wrongdoing." (Reporting by Sam TobinEditing by Rod Nickel)
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Straits Times
Ex-UK National Crime Agency officer jailed for stealing bitcoin from dark web drug dealer
Find out what's new on ST website and app. FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin are seen in this illustration taken November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo LONDON - An officer with Britain's National Crime Agency who stole cryptocurrency from the operator of an illegal dark web marketplace was jailed on Wednesday for 5-1/2 years. The NCA was investigating the Silk Road 2.0 site – which allowed users to buy drugs and other illicit goods after the original Silk Road was shut down by the FBI in 2013 – and arrested Liverpool-based Thomas White in 2014. Intelligence officer Paul Chowles took the details of White's "retirement wallet" and stole 50 bitcoin before sending it to a cryptocurrency "mixing" service called Bitcoin Fog to obscure the source, prosecutors said. Chowles, 42, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court having pleaded guilty to one count of theft, one count of transferring criminal property, and one count of concealing criminal property. Prosecutor Craig Hassall said the bitcoin Chowles stole was worth just under 60,000 pounds (around $80,000) at the time of the theft in May 2017 and is now worth over 4 million pounds, though Chowles had realised nearly 145,000 pounds. Chowles was dismissed by the NCA this month for gross misconduct after his guilty pleas, having been arrested in 2022. The NCA initially thought White, who was jailed in 2019 for over five years, had managed to access his bitcoin wallet and remove the 50 missing bitcoin, Hassall said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Over 600 Telegram groups in Singapore selling, advertising vapes removed by HSA Singapore 2 weeks' jail for man caught smuggling over 1,800 vapes and pods into Singapore Singapore Jail for man who fatally hit his daughter, 2, while driving van without licence Sport 'Like being in a washing machine with 40 deg C water': Open water swimmers brave challenging conditions Singapore Primary 1 registration: 38 primary schools to conduct ballot in Phase 2A Singapore ComfortDelGro to introduce new taxi cancellation, waiting fee policy Business Cathay Cineplexes gets fresh demands to pay up $3.3m debt for Century Square, Causeway Point outlets Singapore Countering misinformation requires both laws and access to trusted news sources: Josephine Teo The remaining 47 bitcoin in White's wallet were sold by the NCA for roughly 500,000 pounds, and the funds paid towards a 1.5 million-pound confiscation order made against White. But police and the NCA began to investigate after White said he was not responsible for moving the 50 bitcoin, and usernames and passwords linked to White's cryptocurrency accounts were found in Chowles' notebooks when he was arrested. Judge David Aubrey said bitcoin worth nearly 470,000 pounds was seized from Chowles, telling him: "Had you not been arrested, you would have continued to reap the rewards of your wrongdoing." REUTERS
