Scottish prosecutors seize 23.5 Bitcoin in 2020 robbery.
Date: 2024-09-03 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
Scottish prosecutors have seized and converted 23.5 Bitcoin, valued at about $144,017 (£109,601), in connection with a 2020 robbery near Glasgow.
The incident marks the first time in Scotland that stolen cryptocurrency has been traced and recovered under the country’s Proceeds of Crime laws, BBC News reported on September 2.
The robbery, which took place in the city of Blantyre, involved three men breaking into a home armed with a machete and an unusual weapon: a personalized Toblerone bar.
Victim transferred bitcoins at knifepoint
The attackers targeted a man who was forced at knifepoint to transfer bitcoins from his digital wallet.
One of the attackers also attacked a woman in the house, repeatedly hitting her with a Toblerone bar before making a threatening gesture and fleeing the scene.
The stolen cryptocurrency was eventually traced to John Ross Rennie, who was convicted in November of possessing the bitcoins.
Rennie was identified as the “technical brains” of the operation, responsible for overseeing the transfer of the stolen funds.
Despite Rennie’s claims that he was forced by a relative to deposit the bitcoins into an exchange account, the High Court in Edinburgh found his role to be key to the crime.
As a result, Rennie was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and six months of supervision.
Detective Inspector Craig Potter, from Police Scotland's Cyber Investigation Unit, said the case "was the first robbery in Scotland to involve the tracing of stolen cryptocurrency." The successful conversion of the seized bitcoin into cash, approved by the court on September 3, highlights the growing importance of digital asset recovery in modern law enforcement.
