The US Department of Justice on Monday revealed it had seized $3.36 billion worth of Bitcoin last year from an individual who stole it from Silk Road (the now-defunct darknet website) in 2012.
James Zhong, the person accused of stealing the cryptocurrency has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He has also agreed to renounce his stake in a real estate company, plus $661,900 and other items.
“Mr Zhong is extremely remorseful for his conduct that occurred over 10 years ago when he was just 22,” said Zhong’s lawyer.
According to the authorities, it is the second biggest cryptocurrency theft after the $4.5 billion Bitcoin robbery that they managed to unearth earlier this year.
“For almost 10 years, the whereabouts of this massive chunk of missing bitcoin had ballooned into an over $3.3 billion mystery. We won’t stop following the money…even to a circuit board in the bottom of a popcorn tin,” said US attorney Damian Williams.
The officials said that the Bitcoin were found dotted around Zhong’s Georgia home on his hard drives. Additionally, more Bitcoin was recovered on a tiny computer hidden inside a popcorn tin in a bathroom closet.
The DoJ added that Zhong could face more than two years in prison according to the recommended federal guidelines.
Notably, Silk Road was seized by the US government in 2013 after it had turned into a major underground marketplace for illegal drug trade and money laundering.
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As reported by WION, in February earlier this year, the DoJ arrested a husband-wife team, accused of laundering $4.5 billion in Bitcoin.
Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife Heather Morgan Morgan, 31, were arrested in Manhattan. They spent the illegal proceeds on items ranging from gold and non-fungible tokens to a $500 Walmart gift card, according to prosecutors.
Read more: $4.5 billion in bitcoin: US uncovers biggest-ever cryptocurrency theft
The pair is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex after an attacker initiated more than 2,000 unauthorised transactions. The value of the transactions at the time was $71 million in Bitcoin, but in February it stood at over $4.5 billion.
(With input from agencies)
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