summary
- UK authorities sell £15,000 worth of Monero tokens seized from a convicted drug dealer
- Jack Edward Finney was forced to hand over a total of £23,000, including Monero.
- This is the first time that the cryptocurrency Monero has been converted into cash in the UK.
- Monero is a privacy coin that is hard to trace and is popular on the dark web.
- Finney was convicted of selling dangerous weight loss pills and other illegal drugs.
British authorities have successfully converted seized Monero cryptocurrency into cash in a case involving Jack Edward Finney, a 28-year-old British man convicted of selling illegal drugs on the dark web.
Finney was ordered to pay back £23,000 ($29,700) in proceeds of crime, including £15,000 ($19,350) worth of Monero tokens sold by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), with the remaining amount coming from the sale of Finney's Suzuki Vitara SUV and cash.
Monero is a cryptocurrency known for its privacy features: unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, Monero hides transaction details and user addresses, which makes it popular for dark web transactions but also creates challenges for law enforcement.
Detective Sergeant David McFarlane, from Cheshire Police's Cyber Crime Unit, said: “This is the first seizure of cryptocurrency by Cheshire Cyber Crime Unit. Due to the unusual nature of the cryptocurrency there were some challenges but these were overcome.”
Finney was convicted in December 2021 of selling a range of illegal drugs, including Viagra, anabolic steroids and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). Sold as a weight loss drug, DNP is highly toxic and has been linked to at least 33 deaths in the UK.
The case highlights the expanding role of cryptocurrencies in illegal activity and law enforcement's efforts to adapt. Lead prosecutor Adrienne Foster said: “This shows that criminals can no longer hide their funds in cryptocurrencies and expect them to be safe from authorities.”
Interestingly, the Monero tokens were not seized as a result of a hack or in cooperation with the exchange. Finney handed the tokens over to investigators via a forfeiture order. If he doesn’t pay the full amount, he faces an additional eight months in prison.
Finney's total criminal gains were assessed at £180,894. He has so far only paid back £23,000, but authorities may pursue the remaining amount if he comes across any more money in the future.
The incident comes after the UK government gave police greater powers to seize cryptocurrencies, with new rules introduced in April allowing authorities to “destroy” cryptocurrencies if “it is not in the public interest to return them to circulation.”
The sale of Monero tokens came nearly three years after Finney's initial sentencing, highlighting the complexities involved in dealing with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency like Monero.
Andrew Quinn, head of the FSA's National Food Crime Unit, said of the case: “No matter what form the currency takes, we will find it and seize it.”
