The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in Australia has lodged allegations against a federal police officer for erasing 81.62 Bitcoin from a Trezor hardware wallet at a crime scene. Authorities utilized crypto tracking software to claim that the officer transferred the Bitcoin into his own possession.
According to recent information, the Australian police discovered the hardware wallet during a drug raid at a residence. However, they waited approximately three weeks to obtain court permission to access it. Unfortunately, when they finally accessed the wallet, they found that it was completely empty as the federal agent, William Wheatley, had allegedly moved the Bitcoin out shortly after the raid.
The hardware wallet supposedly contained 81.62 Bitcoin, valued at $309,000 at the time of the raid in 2019. However, as of now, it is estimated to be worth around $4.2 million.
Detective Sergeant Deon Achtypis from the cybercrime squad initially suspected that a member of a criminal syndicate was behind the theft of the Bitcoin. This suspicion arose when the police force discovered a device containing the seed phrase to the hardware wallet. The seed phrase consists of 12 to 24 random words and can be used to recover the wallet if it is lost or stolen.
However, after conducting an extensive investigation into the IP addresses used to access the stolen Bitcoin through crypto tracking software, Achtypis allegedly found a connection to Wheatley.
Law enforcement agencies worldwide are increasingly adopting crypto tracking software to combat illicit activities involving digital assets. Canadian law enforcement, for example, announced in August 2023 that they had started using Chainalysis Reactor software to trace illicit crypto transactions.
Advancements in crypto detective software technology have also resulted in a higher rate of recovery of stolen cryptocurrencies. In January 2023, it was reported that over $674 million had been recovered from more than 600 large-scale crypto hacks.
Meanwhile, Wheatley is maintaining his innocence against the charges of exploiting his position for personal gain, theft, and involvement in the proceeds of crime. He intends to contest the allegations related to the stolen Bitcoin from the Trezor wallet. This development comes at a time when Trezor has acknowledged a security breach that affected nearly 66,000 users.
On January 17, unauthorized access was discovered in a third-party support portal, and Trezor warned that individuals who had interacted with their support team since December 2021 may have had their data compromised.
Source: $3.4B of Bitcoin in a popcorn tin: The Silk Road hacker’s story