Ex-NCA officer ordered to repay $2.4M for stolen Bitcoin

A UK court has issued a confiscation order against former National Crime Agency (NCA) officer Paul Chowles, requiring him to repay approximately £1.81 million ($2.4 million). The order follows Chowles' theft of 50 Bitcoin in May 2017 during an investigation into the dark web marketplace Silk Road 2.0.

At the time of the theft, the 50 BTC were valued at roughly £60,000. However, the confiscation order reflects the significantly higher current value of the assets. While 30 BTC were recovered from Chowles, the remaining 20 BTC were deemed spent. To obscure the trail, Chowles utilized mixing services such as Bitcoin Fog and converted portions of the cryptocurrency into fiat currency through services including Cryptopay and Wirex.

The theft was initially attributed to the Silk Road 2.0 operator, Thomas White, until an investigation by Merseyside Police and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis traced the funds back to Chowles. Following a guilty plea to theft and money laundering, Chowles was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in July 2025.