Greater powers for the National Crime Agency and police to seize, freeze and destroy cryptoassets used by criminals have come into force today
Organised criminals, including drug dealers, fraudsters and terrorists, are known to increasingly use cryptoassets to launder the proceeds of crime and raise money. The NCA’s National Assessment Centre estimates that illicit crypto transactions linked to the UK are likely to have reached at least £1.2 billion in 2021, if not significantly higher.
To tackle this emerging threat, the government has updated proceeds of crime and terror legislation, making it easier for UK law enforcement to effectively investigate, seize and recover illicit cryptoassets. These changes include:
The changes that come into force today will stop criminals from undermining the legitimate use of crypto, while also supporting the development of crypto as a potential driver of economic growth.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said:
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:
In January 2024, the NCA worked with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate a multi-million drug enterprise which led to $150 million, in cash and crypto, being seized.
Cryptoassets were also seized in a case where three men sold counterfeit drugs on the dark web and accepted crypto as payment, amassing £750,000 in the process. They were jailed for more than 20 years between them. In a separate case, HMRC seized three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of an investigation into VAT fraud, with three people arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud the agency of £1.4 million.
A small number of counter-terror investigations have also found terror groups are using crypto to raise funds. In 2021, a British man was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment after he used Bitcoin to send around £55,000 to Daesh.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre, said:
Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said:
Comments
Comments are currently closed.