Ex-NCA officer ordered to surrender £1.8M for stealing seized Bitcoin

A former National Crime Agency (NCA) officer who stole Bitcoin seized during an investigation into Silk Road 2.0 has been ordered to hand over more than £1.8 million ($2.4 million). Paul Chowles, 44, stole 50 of the 97 Bitcoin recovered from convicted Silk Road 2.0 administrator Thomas White. Police later recovered 30 of the stolen coins. US and European authorities shut down Silk Road 2.0 in November 2014 as part of an international operation targeting dark web marketplaces. The 50 Bitcoin were worth about £60,000 ($79,000) when Chowles stole them in 2017. Chowles had worked on the NCA investigation into criminal activity on the original Silk Road and later took the lead in analyzing data and extracting cryptocurrency from devices seized from White. Between May 6 and 7, 2017, he transferred 50 Bitcoin from White's "retirement wallet" to an address under his control. …