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Kraken Assists UK Crime Victims In Recovering $2 Million Stolen Crypto

Press Releases Crypto News Bitcoinist Kraken Assists UK Crime Victims In Recovering $2 Million Stolen Crypto

In an effort dubbed “Operation Hyphen,” Kraken, the renowned cryptocurrency exchange, collaborated with the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) to recover and return over $2 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency linked to a major crypto scam.

Scammer Receives 4 Years In Prison For 10 Million Euro Crypto Heist

The investigation centered around the fraudulent website “iotaseed.io,” created by Wybo Wiersma, a 40-year-old individual from the Netherlands. Wiersma allegedly exploited “unsuspecting victims” by offering an alleged secure platform for generating 81-digit IOTA crypto seeds.

However, without the users’ knowledge, the seed phrases were predetermined by Wiersma, allowing him to gain control over their tokens.

According to a statement from the UK’s Organized Crime Unit, between 2017 and 2018, Wiersma transferred more than €10 million worth of IOTA tokens from multiple victims to various cryptocurrency trading accounts.

This illegal activity came to an end when he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to four and a half years in prison for theft.

Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, SEROCU seized approximately £2.37 million in cryptocurrency from an exchange, making it the first instance in the UK where such legislation was employed to confiscate assets from a cryptocurrency exchange.

During the court proceedings, Wiersma was ordered to pay £2.1 million, with a portion of the amount sourced from the seized cryptocurrency. The remaining funds were earmarked for restitution to the victims, who numbered between 50 and 60 individuals worldwide.

However, returning the stolen funds to the victims posed a considerable challenge. SEROCU partnered with Kraken to overcome this hurdle and sought guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the National Police C

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Author: Ronaldo Marquez

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