Scottish Prosecutors Seize 23.5 Bitcoin from 2020 Robbery Case

Scottish prosecutors have seized and converted 23.5 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $144,017 (109,601 British pounds), from a 2020 robbery near Glasgow.

The incident marks the first instance in Scotland where stolen cryptocurrency has been traced and recovered under proceeds of crime legislation, BBC News reported on September 2.

The robbery, which took place in the town of Blantyre, involved three men who forcibly entered a home armed with a machete and an unusual weapon—a personalized Toblerone chocolate bar.

Victim Transferred Bitcoin At Knifepoint

The attackers targeted a male victim, who was forced at knifepoint to transfer Bitcoin from his digital wallet.

One of the assailants also assaulted a woman on the property, repeatedly hitting her with the Toblerone bar before making a threatening gesture and fleeing the scene.

The stolen cryptocurrency was eventually traced to John Ross Rennie, who was convicted in November of possessing the Bitcoin.

🍫 Chocolate Bar Robbery!
Scottish authorities seized and converted 23.5 $BTC into cash from a 2020 home invasion where robbers used a machete and a Toblerone bar to steal Bitcoin. This marks Scotland's first case of traced cryptocurrency in a crime. #Bitcoin #Crypto #Crime #BTC pic.twitter.com/04wnYEmAjB

— 137Labs Global (@137LabsEN) September 3, 2024

Rennie was identified as the “technical brains” behind the operation, responsible for guiding the transfer of the stolen funds.

Despite Rennie’s claims that he was coerced by a relative into depositing the Bitcoin into an exchange account, the Edinburgh High Court found his role pivotal to the crime.

As a result, Rennie was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work and placed under a six-month supervision order.

Detective Inspector Craig Potter from Police Scotland’s Cyber Investigations unit said the case “was the first robbery in Scotland to involve tracing stolen cryptocurrency.”

The successful conversion of the seized Bitcoin into cash, approved by the court on September 3, underscores the growing importance of digital asset recovery in modern law enforcement.

Crypto Projects Lost $310M to Scams in August

As reported, August saw a surge in crypto-related scams, with a staggering $310 million lost to various exploits, making it the second-highest monthly total this year.

However, $10.3 million of the stolen assets were eventually recovered or returned, leaving the net loss at $300.6 million.

Phishing incidents emerged as the most damaging, accounting for approximately $293 million of the total losses.

Two particularly large-scale phishing attacks resulted in the theft of $238 million in Bitcoin and $55 million in DAI stablecoin.

Aside from phishing, other notable losses in August included attacks on several crypto projects.

For instance, the Ronin Network, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based sidechain, was exploited by a white hat hacker on August 6, resulting in the theft of 4,000 ETH, valued at $9.85 million at the time.

Additionally, flash loan attacks, though still concerning, resulted in relatively lower losses of $1.2 million in August compared to previous months.

In contrast to the rise in phishing and other forms of exploitation, exit scams saw a significant decline, with losses dropping to $800,000 in August, down from around $3 million in July.

Meanwhile, a recent Chainalysis report revealed a decline in overall illicit cryptocurrency transactions in 2024, even as specific types of criminal activities within the sector surged.