一名前英国国家犯罪局（NCA）官员因在调查“Silk Road 2.0”期间窃取了被没收的比特币，被责令归还超过180万英镑（约合240万美元）的赃款。44岁的保罗·乔尔斯（Paul Chowles）窃取了从已被定罪的“Silk Road 2.0”网站管理员托马斯·怀特（Thomas White）处缴获的97枚比特币中的50枚。后来，警方追回了其中30枚比特币。
A former National Crime Agency (NCA) officer who stole Bitcoin seized during an investigation into Silk Road 2.0 has been ordered to hand over more than £1.8 million ($2.4 million). Paul Chowles, 44, stole 50 of the 97 Bitcoin recovered from convicted Silk Road 2.0 administrator Thomas White. Police later recovered 30 of the stolen coins.
2014年11月，美国和欧洲当局联合开展国际行动，关闭了“Silk Road 2.0”网站。2017年乔尔斯窃取这些比特币时，它们的价值约为6万英镑（7.9万美元）。此前乔尔斯曾参与NCA对“Silk Road”网站犯罪活动的调查，并负责分析从怀特处缴获的设备中的数据及提取其中的加密货币。2017年5月6日至7日期间，他将这50枚比特币从怀特的“专用钱包”转移到了自己控制的账户中，随后将这些比特币分成小笔金额，并通过名为“Bitcoin Fog”的匿名交易服务进行转移，以掩盖交易痕迹。
US and European authorities shut down Silk Road 2.0 in November 2014 as part of an international operation targeting dark web marketplaces. The 50 Bitcoin were worth about £60,000 ($79,000) when Chowles stole them in 2017. Chowles had worked on the NCA investigation into criminal activity on the original Silk Road and later took the lead in analyzing data and extracting cryptocurrency from devices seized from White. Between May 6 and 7, 2017, he transferred 50 Bitcoin from White's "retirement wallet" to an address under his control. He then divided the coins into smaller amounts and routed them through Bitcoin Fog, a mixing service used to obscure cryptocurrency transactions.
到2025年7月宣判时，英国皇家检察署（CPS）估计这些比特币的价值已升至440万英镑（580万美元）。检察署表示，由于比特币价格的上涨，乔尔斯通过犯罪获得的实际收益增加了197.075927万英镑。在下达没收令时，法院会同时考虑犯罪所得收益以及被告的“可用资产”（即可用于履行没收命令的资产价值）。经评估，乔尔斯的可用资产为181.067893万英镑，利物浦皇家法院因此判决他必须支付这笔款项。
By the time of his sentencing in July 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) valued the 50 Bitcoin at more than £4.4 million ($5.8 million). The CPS said the rise in Bitcoin's value helped take the benefit attributed to Chowles' offending to £1,970,759.27. When making a confiscation order, a court considers both the benefit obtained through the crime and the defendant's "available amount" – the value of assets that can be used to satisfy the order. Chowles' available amount was assessed at £1,810,678.93, and Liverpool Crown Court ordered him to pay that sum.
英国皇家检察署犯罪所得部门的专业检察官卢克·克莱门茨（Luke Clements）表示：“保罗·乔尔斯利用职务之便谋取私利，窃取了通过执法行动已经追回的资产。没收令是确保犯罪分子无法从犯罪中获利的有效手段。”
Luke Clements, specialist prosecutor at the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said: "Paul Chowles exploited a position of trust for personal gain, stealing assets that had already been recovered through law enforcement action. "Confiscation orders are a powerful tool in ensuring that crime does not pay.
今天的这一决定明确传达了一个信息：我们将不遗余力地追查犯罪分子的资产，并无论这些资产隐藏在哪里，都要设法追回它们。“英国皇家检察署（CPS）的犯罪所得追缴部门将继续与执法机构密切合作，查明犯罪分子的非法所得，并采取有力措施，剥夺他们的犯罪收益。”来自布里斯托尔的乔尔斯（Chowles）于2025年7月11日被英国国家犯罪调查局（NCA）解雇。
Today's order sends a clear message that we will pursue offenders' assets relentlessly and seek to recover criminal proceeds wherever they are hidden. "The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division will continue to work closely with law enforcement partners to identify criminal benefit and take robust action to strip offenders of the profits of their crimes." Chowles, from Bristol, was dismissed from the NCA on July 11, 2025. Five days later, Liverpool Crown Court sentenced him to five years and six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing criminal property.
五天后，利物浦刑事法院以盗窃罪、转移犯罪所得罪及隐匿犯罪所得罪判处他五年零六个月监禁。白（White）坚称，这些比特币一定是被NCA内部的某个人偷走的；NCA最初也认为白自己转移了这些比特币，因为白具备相应的技术能力。到了2021年底，调查人员认为这些比特币已经无法被追踪，于是将其视为“无法追回的资产”并予以注销。
Suspicion eventually fell on Chowles after White insisted that someone inside the NCA must have taken the Bitcoin. The NCA initially assumed White had moved the missing Bitcoin himself because he had the technical knowledge to do so. By late 2021, investigators regarded the coins as untraceable and wrote them off.
在白被判有罪后，法院下令没收其1,560,506英镑的财产。NCA后来卖掉了剩余的47枚比特币，但仍欠1,066,956英镑未追回。白则声称，另外50枚比特币是被NCA内部的人偷走的，因为NCA的调查人员掌握了他钱包的私钥。2022年初白获准出狱后，默西塞德郡警方负责对他的监管。当默西塞德郡警方与NCA的同事会面讨论白的相关指控时，乔尔斯也出席了会议。
Following White's conviction, the court imposed a confiscation order of £1,560,506. The NCA sold the remaining 47 Bitcoin to satisfy part of it, leaving £1,066,956 outstanding. White maintained that someone within the agency had stolen the other 50 coins because NCA investigators held the private keys to his wallet. Merseyside Police was responsible for managing White locally after his release on license in early 2022. When Merseyside officers met NCA counterparts to discuss White's allegation, Chowles attended the meeting.
随后，默西塞德郡警方展开了调查，并于2022年5月逮捕了乔尔斯。调查人员发现了一部iPhone手机，该手机显示乔尔斯与用于转移比特币的账户有关联；此外，还在他的办公室里发现了包含用户名、密码以及与白所持有的加密货币账户相关信息的笔记本。
Merseyside Police subsequently opened an investigation and arrested him in May 2022. Investigators recovered an iPhone linking Chowles to an account used to transfer Bitcoin, along with relevant searches for a cryptocurrency exchange. They also found notebooks in his office containing usernames, passwords, and statements relating to White's cryptocurrency accounts. ®