Scotland’s first cryptocurrency seizure: Details here

In a historic first for Scotland, authorities have seized £110,000 (around $144,384) from 29-year-old John Ross Rennie.

The seizure is the first time the Proceeds of Crime Act has been used to seize cryptocurrency.

The case was heard at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Details:

Rennie, from Cambuslang, was found guilty of possessing stolen goods following a violent robbery in Blantyre, southeast of Glasgow, in March 2020.

The court heard the incident last year, in which three men broke into the victim’s home.

The victim woke up to find one of the attackers standing over him with a machete, forcing him to transfer 23.5 bitcoins, which at the time was worth around £109,601.

During the attack, another woman in the house was violently assaulted, repeatedly beaten with a Toblerone chocolate bar before being thrown into the bedroom. The attacker then tried to slit the woman’s throat with the bloody chocolate before fleeing the scene. Although he denied direct involvement in the robbery, Rene was described as the technical brains behind the operation, offering his expertise on how to transfer cryptocurrencies, according to the BBC.