British police in Lincolnshire, England, seized $2.7 million (£2 million) in Bitcoin from a 17-year-old teenager who has not yet been recognized for legal purposes.
As a component of a “sophisticated cyber scam,” the youngster created a bogus website and purchased Bitcoin with pirated coupons valued at $8,900 (£6,500). The Lincoln Crown Judge issued him a 12-month rehabilitative sentence.
He pleaded to fraud and money laundering charges, and Judge Knight stated that “if he was an adult, he would be going inside.” It’s hardly the first time Cryptocurrency has reached a Britain courtroom.
“This has been a long-running inquiry involving a large sum of money—millions of pounds,” lawyer Malcolm Isherwood stated at the time.
In April, two men were sentenced to prison for utilizing dark websites to buy drugs from South America, a transaction that netted them more than $4.8 million (£3.5 million).
Five people have been charged in a $27 million (£20 million) Bitcoin fraud lawsuit in March of last year. The case spanned nearly two years, and the 5 defendants committed the scam by exploiting a flaw in a corporation called Coinsport, which was run by the Australian company Casey Block Services. “This has been a long-running inquiry involving a large sum of money—millions of pounds,” lawyer Malcolm Isherwood stated at the time.
The bogus website, created by the adolescent in April 2020, was nearly identical to Love2Shop, a business that sells gift certificates and coupons.
“People were tricked into thinking they were accessing the official site when they clicked on his website,” said Sam Skinner, an attorney in the case. The police inquiry discovered 48 Bitcoin, a portion of other altcoins, over 12,000 credit card numbers, and the information for a further 197 PayPal accounts on the teen’s desktop.