The Australian federal police officer refutes claims that he transferred Bitcoin to the cryptocurrency exchange Binance via a hardware wallet found at the crime site.
A federal police officer has been accused by the Australian National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of deleting a Trezor hardware wallet containing 81.62 Bitcoin at a crime scene. The authorities claimed that he moved the Bitcoins into his own possession by using crypto tracking software. A recent allegation claims that Australian police discovered the hardware wallet after a narcotics bust at a home, but they had to wait almost three weeks to get a judge’s approval to access it.
But when they accessed the wallet, there were none at all because, according to reports, federal agent William Wheatley had moved the Bitcoins out soon after the raid. According to reports, the hardware wallet had 81.62 Bitcoin, which was worth $309,000 at the time of the 2019 raid. That being said, its current market value is about $4.2 million USD.
Authorities initially thought a member of the crime organisation was behind the Bitcoin heist, according to Detective Sergeant Deon Achtypis of the cybercrime unit.
The suspicion arose from the police finding of a device holding the hardware wallet’s seed phrase, a string of 12–24 random phrases that can be used as a recovery technique in the event that the wallet is lost or stolen.
Nevertheless, Achtypis purportedly discovered a connection to Wheatley following a thorough investigation that examined IP addresses used to access the pilfered Bitcoin using crypto tracing software. “I got to thinking that there might have been a police officer involved in the cryptocurrency movement.”
To combat unlawful behaviour involving digital assets, law enforcement agencies worldwide are implementing crypto tracking software. The Canadian police agency declared in August 2023 that it has begun tracing illegal cryptocurrency transactions with the aid of the software Chainalysis Reactor.
Furthermore, the percentage of stolen cryptocurrency that is recovered is rising as a result of developments in crypto detective software. According to a Jan. 29 report, more than $674 million was recovered in 2023 from over 600 significant cryptocurrency breaches. In the meantime, Wheatley is maintaining his innocence in the face of charges that he stole, participated in money laundering, and used his official position for personal benefit.
According to reports, he is ready to fight the accusations related to the Bitcoins that were taken from the Trezor wallet. This occurs in the wake of Trezor admitting to a security compromise impacting around 66,000 users.
Trezor revealed unauthorised access to a third-party support portal on January 17, according to a report published on January 20. The business issued a warning, stating that everyone who have interacted with Trezor’s support staff since December 2021 may have had their data compromised.