By Isaac • September 30, 2026 11:50 am •
A former officer at Britain’s National Crime Agency has been ordered to repay more than £1.8 million after stealing 50 Bitcoin from a wallet that law enforcement had already seized.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Paul Chowles, 44, abused his role on the investigation of Silk Road 2.0, a dark-web marketplace used by criminal networks. He transferred the Bitcoin out of a confiscated wallet in 2017 and then tried to disguise the trail through a series of cryptocurrency transactions.
The numbers show what made the case so unusual. The 50 Bitcoin were worth roughly £60,000 when Chowles took them.
A court has now imposed a confiscation order of £1,810,678.93, including the value of 30 Bitcoin recovered
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