Investigators in Saxony seized almost 50,000 Bitcoins in mid-January, equivalent to a value of two billion euros, as confirmed by Kay Anders, the spokesperson for the State Criminal Police Office, MDR SACHSEN. This action marks the most extensive seizure of Bitcoins by German law enforcement authorities to date.
One of the suspects voluntarily transferred the virtual currency to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The final decision regarding the utilization of the Bitcoins is still pending.
The confiscation of digital currency stems from joint investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office Dresden, the State Criminal Police Office Saxony (LKA), and the Tax Investigation Unit of the Leipzig II Tax Office against two men. The 40-year-old German and the 37-year-old Pole are accused of systematic violation of copyright law, followed by money laundering. They are alleged to have operated the German piracy portal “movie2k.to” until the end of May 2013, investing revenues from advertising and subscription traps in Bitcoins.
In August 2020, the investigation group INES, comprising LKA, public prosecutor’s office, and tax investigation, had already seized Bitcoins worth more than 25 million euros from the portal operators. The main operators are accused of distributing over 880,000 pirated copies and running an illegal streaming service from autumn 2008 to May 2013.
