A UK court has ordered former National Crime Agency officer Paul Chowles to repay £1,810,678.93, approximately $2.4 million, after he stole 50 Bitcoin from a wallet seized during an investigation into the dark web marketplace Silk Road 2.0.
The Bitcoin was worth about £60,000, or $77,000, when Chowles took it in 2017. The confiscation order, secured by the Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, reflects the much higher value of the assets since then.
How the Bitcoin was taken
Chowles, 44, of Bristol, was part of the NCA team investigating Silk Road 2.0. The marketplace was launched by Thomas White weeks after the FBI shut down the original Silk Road in 2013.
As the officer responsible for analysing and extracting cryptocurrency from devices seized during the investigation, Chowles had access to a wallet containing Bitcoin from White’s reserve holdings. In May 2017, he moved 50 BTC out of the confiscated wallet over two days and attempted to conceal the transfers.
The stolen coins were divided into smaller amounts and sent through Bitcoin Fog, a cryptocurrency mixing service used to make the movement of funds more difficult to follow. Chowles then converted part of the proceeds through Cryptopay and Wirex debit cards in 279 transactions, worth £144,580 in total.
Investigation, conviction and recovery
The missing Bitcoin was blamed on White for several years. White denied stealing the coins, but by late 2021 the funds had been considered untraceable.
That changed after a 2022 search of Chowles’ home uncovered devices containing the private keys linked to the Bitcoin. Merseyside Police traced the funds through the mixing service with assistance from Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics company.
Thirty of the 50 BTC were recovered from Chowles. The confiscation order includes the total value specified by the court, while the CPS said the difference between the Bitcoin’s value when it was stolen and the repayment amount is largely due to the cryptocurrency’s appreciation.
Chowles pleaded guilty to theft, transferring criminal property and concealing criminal property. Liverpool Crown Court sentenced him to five years and six months in prison in July 2025. The NCA dismissed him on July 11, 2025. A separate compensation order has also been made for the victim.
Luke Clements, a specialist prosecutor in the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said Chowles had abused a position of trust for personal gain and that the agency would pursue offenders’ assets. The CPS division says it has recovered more than £530 million through confiscation orders over the past five years, including more than £102 million returned to victims.
Current crypto market picture
Moneyiar market data at 09:33–09:34 on October 1, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $83840.940159939, up 0.12% over 24 hours and 0.99% over seven days.
Other tracked assets were mixed: Sei was $0.0733197622, down 1.64% in 24 hours but up 27.83% over seven days; Pharos was $0.7139391961, up 5.57% and 17.24%, respectively; and Oasis was $0.0087803445, down 5.18% over 24 hours while gaining 16.59% over seven days. The case was reported by Decrypt.
