German authorities have revealed that they have seized 50,000 bitcoins. “This is the most extensive seizure of bitcoins by law enforcement authorities in the Federal Republic of Germany to date,” the German police noted.
Germany Seizes 50K Bitcoin
The Saxony state police in Germany announced the seizure of nearly 50,000 bitcoins on Tuesday following a joint investigation by the Dresden General Prosecutor’s Office, the Saxony State Criminal Police Office, and the Leipzig II Tax Office, coordinated by the Integrated Investigation Unit (INES). The announcement details:
This is the most extensive seizure of bitcoins by law enforcement authorities in the Federal Republic of Germany to date.
“The bitcoins were seized after the accused voluntarily transferred them to official wallets provided by the BKA [Federal Criminal Police Office],” the police detailed. “This means that a final decision has not yet been made about the utilization of the bitcoins,” they added. At the time of writing, the seized BTC is worth $2.13 billion.
This case involves a 40-year-old German male programmer and his business partner in an ongoing investigation into suspected unauthorized commercial exploitation of copyrighted works and subsequent money laundering.
The German programmer is accused of operating movie2k.io, which was once Germany’s most successful illegal video-sharing site. The authorities shut the site down in 2013. According to the police, the accused took the profits from the site and invested in bitcoin. He was arrested in 2019. Ten months after his arrest, he relinquished some of his bitcoin, transferring his BTC worth 25 million euros to the authorities.
The Saxony police’s announcement states that no further information will be provided until the investigation is completed.
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