Former U.K. Officer Faces £1.81 Million Confiscation Order Over Bitcoin Theft

Former National Crime Agency officer Paul Chowles faces a £1,810,678.93 confiscation order for stealing 50 Bitcoin (BTC) from a wallet seized in the Silk Road 2.0 investigation, with the order reflecting assets available to recover.

The order includes the value of 30 Bitcoin recovered earlier. The 50 Bitcoin were worth £59,409 when Chowles transferred them May 6-7, 2017, from a 97-Bitcoin wallet seized from Thomas White, who set up Silk Road 2.0.

The National Crime Agency team initially believed White had moved the Bitcoin. Chowles split the funds into smaller transfers and routed them through Bitcoin Fog. He used Cryptopay and Wirex accounts and cards to spend funds and make withdrawals.

Chowles admitted in May 2025 to theft, transferring criminal property and concealing criminal property. He was sentenced to five years and six months in prison in July 2025.

The order was below the £1,970,759.27 assessed as Chowles’ criminal benefit. The court assessed £1,810,678.93 as the amount available to recover.

The theft also affected White’s separate confiscation case. Authorities sold the 47 Bitcoin remaining in their custody to help satisfy a confiscation order against White, who still owed £1,066,956.

A separate compensation order was made to pay a victim’s outstanding confiscation order.