An Irish court has come out and ruled that any Ethereum purchased from illegally obtained funds can now be considered proceeds of crime. Bitcoin has been considered proceeds of crime for a number of years and this most notably came to rise during the Silk Road case.
During the trial of Neil Mannion back in 2014, the Ethereum he held on his PC wasn’t considered proceeds of crime, meaning he would have been able to access it once he got out of jail and enjoyed the fruits of his drug trafficking labor. This new ruling by an Irish court means that this Ethereum stockpile is now considered the proceeds of criminal activity and can be ceased by the authorities.
Westland Storage Faces the Music
When it comes to proceeds of crimes, the founders and masterminds behind Westland Storage are going to be left pocketless – much like the victims of their scams. Westland Storage promised investors guaranteed gains if they invested crypto into their business, which allegedly bought property, rented it out, and gave the proceeds back to investors. However, the project shut down abruptly and disappeared into the ether. Since then, the founders have issued death threats to investors who are looking to recover their money. It’s only a matter of time before the founders wind up in court and have their assets confiscated under these new rulings.
13,000 ETH Goes Missing
All eyes are following the 13,000 ETH that went missing from investors accounts when Pure Bit decided to do a vanishing act. It’s almost the perfect crime, as the ICO targeted South Korean investors, a country where ICOs are illegal. This means that investors are unlikely to file a report due to the fact they were breaking the law by investing in the ICO. Unless the scammers use a mixing service to hide the original source of the funds, the Ethereum can be traced once it’s withdrawn, meaning it’s just a waiting game for investors.
Australian Ripple Thief
Another cryptocurrency thief has been caught in the land down under. An Australian woman was caught after stealing 100,000 XRP from her gentleman friend after accessing his email account. She then proceeded to send it directly to her exchange account and withdraw the cash. Thankfully, she was caught and the XRP has been given back to its rightful owner.
Now that Ethereum is considered profits of crime, criminals will have to think of better ways to store their loot. These ruling leaves almost every avenue covered, meaning they will have to get creative or make their own cryptocurrency. Alternatively, criminals could give up their life of crime and become upstanding citizens – but that might be considered a bit of a stretch.
