UK police will return confiscated £2.37 million to victims of crypto fraud who invested in the fake IOTA project. The assets were seized with the participation of the Kraken crypto exchange.
At the beginning of the year, the UK's South East Region Organized Crime Unit (SEROCU) confiscated approximately £2.37 million ($2.9 million) in cryptocurrencies from the wallet of Dutchman Wybo Wiersma.. A 40-year-old man created a fake website, disguising it as the IOTA blockchain. The attacker deceived about 50 investors from different countries, convincing them to buy cryptocurrency through a fraudulent website.
Wiersma generated seed phrases for users in advance, thanks to which he was able to gain access to the victims’ wallets. In January 2018, he appropriated other people's crypto assets and then distributed them to several cryptocurrency addresses. The fraudster was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison in January this year..
Law enforcement said the case marked the first time British police had used the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize stolen funds from a cryptocurrency exchange.. The police said that during the investigation of this case they had to overcome many difficulties, including the conversion of stolen cryptocurrencies. However, thanks to the efforts of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Kraken crypto exchange, the authorities were able to convert the stolen crypto assets into pounds sterling and ensure the legality of this process.
“Victims of the fraud have been patiently hoping for a refund for five years. This might not have happened if not for the collaboration with the Kraken trading platform,” said SEROCU inspector Rob Bryant.
Let us recall that the UK Parliament recently passed a bill that will allow law enforcement to block and seize crypto-assets without waiting for a conviction.