Scottish authorities have seized £110,000 worth of Bitcoin from 29-year-old John Ross Rennie. Rennie stole the Bitcoin during a home invasion in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.
The incident dates back to March 2020 when Rennie invaded a home in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, with his accomplices. His accomplices threatened the victim with a machete and compelled them to transfer the Bitcoin.
Rennie bags 150 hours of community service
Even though Rennie was not involved in the physical assault of the victim, he was sentenced for his act as the technical brain behind the attack. Rennie was providing guidance on the cryptocurrency transfers to the robbers, according to the BBC.
For his act, Rennie was sentenced to 150 hours of community service. The police also seized 23.5 Bitcoin from him. This incident marked the first robbery case in Scotland involving traced stolen crypto.
Following the seizure of the stolen crypto, the High Court in Edinburgh decided to convert the Bitcoin into cash valued at about £110,000.
Another victim suffers “Toblerone chocolate bar assault”
Another home occupant was also attacked with a Toblerone chocolate bar.
“A woman in the home was also repeatedly struck with a Toblerone bar and thrown into a bedroom. One of the three men involved in the attack made a “throat-slitting gesture” with the bloodied chocolate bar before they fled the scene,” said the BBC.
The same method of violent robbery and crypto theft is not uncommon. In July 2023, a gang led by Remy Ra St. Felix was responsible for several brutal home invasions. These attacks were aimed at stealing cryptocurrency from victims from states like New York, Texas, and Florida.
The gang employed a violent approach, which included threats, assaults, and extreme torture to force their victims into giving up their crypto holdings.
