US Makes $3.36 Billion Worth of Crypto Seizure as Criminal Pleads Guilty
The US Justice Department has announced the latest development in the case against James Zhong. The Department said he pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than 50,000 BTC through the internet in September 2012. Zhong carried out the heist on the Silk Road dark marketplace.
Informed Crackdown
The Justice Department equally said it has made a seizure of crypto worth $3.36 billion. This is also related to the Silk Road heist case.
The Department said law enforcement officers carried out a search of Zhong’s Georgia home in November 2021. It was reported that they seized significantly more than 50,000 BTC during the raid. It was worth more than $3.36 billion at that time.
It was further elaborated that it was the largest crypto seizure in the Department’s history at that time. But it is currently the second-largest at this moment.
Zhong equally had some 3,500 BTC held up in exchanges and more than 50,000 BCH he earned after the Bitcoin hard fork in 2017. He is said to have used a crypto exchange abroad for conversions.
Besides the Bitcoin seized in his home, Zhong also began to voluntarily give up more Bitcoin. Starting in March, the DOJ said he has willingly given up more than 1000 BTC so far.
The DOJ said the government is aiming for the total forfeiture of well over 51,000 BTC from Zhong. Bitcoin currently trades at $19,714 at the time of this report. The government, therefore, seeks more than $1 billion.
Final Forfeitures
Zhong was the brain behind defrauding the Silk Road marketplace in September 2012. The DOJ said he proceeded to withdraw from the marketplace more Bitcoin than he deposited.
The Department gave an example for more details. It said Zhong deposited 500 BTC into his Silk Road account on the 19th of September 2012. But he proceeded to carry out a withdrawal of 500 BTC five times just a few seconds after. He consequently made a net theft of 2,000 BTC.
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