The Bitcoin, which was stored in 12 wallets, was confiscated from a drug dealer who alleges that the seed phrases were misplaced during a burglary.
Despite the fact that the value of Bitcoin, which was confiscated from a drug dealer in 2019, has increased to €345 million ($378 million), Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has been unable to access it.
Clifton Collins forfeited approximately $56 million in Bitcoin in 2020 after the High Court of Ireland determined that it was the outcome of illicit activity.
After the police discovered a cannabis cultivation operation in Collins’ residence, he was required to surrender the Bitcoin to the CAB in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime legislation. In order to prohibit its transmission, a restraining order was implemented.
However, the CAB has been unable to access the Bitcoin, which is stored in 12 accounts, for the past four years, as reported in a recent article in The Irish Times. During this period, the price of Bitcoin has increased from approximately $9,000 to its current level of over $62,000.
In 2011, when Bitcoin was trading between $0.30 and $29, Collins initially invested in the cryptocurrency using profits from his narcotics business. Trading concluded in 2011 at $4.72.
He alleges that he concealed a document containing the seed phrases for his BTC accounts in a fishing rod container at a rented property in Co Galway. Collins asserted that the case was lost as a result of a break-in at his residence; however, the document could have also been lost during the property’s clearing after his arrest.
Collins was able to recover €1.2 million ($1.3 million) in assets, including 89 Bitcoin, a fishing boat, a Gyro aircraft, a metal detector, an electric bicycle, and various motor vehicles, as per the CAB’s annual report.
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