German Prosecutors Seize Bitcoins Worth a Record $2.1 Billion in Money Laundering Crackdown
Prosecutors in Germany have seized 50,000 bitcoins worth almost two billion euros as part of a financial crime investigation, Bloomberg reports, citing the Saxony police.
This is the largest seizure of bitcoins by law enforcement agencies of the Federal Republic of Germany to date, the police said in a statement.
During the investigation conducted by the Dresden Prosecutor General's Office, the Saxon State Criminal Police Office and the tax investigation of the Leipzig Tax Office, as the Saxon Integrated Investigation Unit (INES), almost 50,000 bitcoins were temporarily confiscated in mid-January 2024. The investigation was supported by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the FBI and a Munich-based forensic company.
"The bitcoins were seized after the defendant voluntarily transferred them to official wallets provided by the BKA. This means that a final decision on the use of the bitcoins has not yet been made," German law enforcement officials said.
The investigation involves two men aged 37 and 40 who allegedly owned pirate resources until May 2013 and used the money to buy cryptocurrency.
The men are suspected of unauthorised commercial use of copyrighted works and subsequent commercial money laundering. But while the investigation is ongoing, no one has been charged.
The Saxony police noted that they received the bitcoins after the defendants "voluntarily transferred them to an account provided by the Federal Criminal Police Office". There is no decision on the future of the cryptocurrency yet.
As previously reported by The Gaze, the European Council and the European Parliament have approved a number of measures aimed at protecting citizens and the European Union's financial system from money laundering and terrorist financing. The new rules will cover most of the cryptocurrency sector, requiring all cryptocurrency asset service providers (CASPs) to conduct customer due diligence. This means they will need to verify facts and information about their clients and report suspicious activity.