A UK judge has ordered the forfeiture of $4.3 million in Bitcoin (BTC) from a British crime lord known as “Don Carr-Lyon.” The order comes after the fugitive failed to prove that the crypto holdings were not related to criminal activities.
Fugitive crime boss claims Bitcoin fortune is legal
UK High Court Judge Mr Justice Timothy Mold recently ordered the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to seize £3.5 million worth of bitcoins worth around $4.3 million from convicted crime boss Alexander Surin, also known as “Don Car-Lyon”. has given the right to do
According to The Telegraph ReportSurin fled to Dubai in 2015 after being convicted of drug trafficking in France. After his conviction, the National Crime Agency (NCO) seized his high-end car fleet, money and several properties in London.
At the time, he and his wife admitted that £4.5 million of the seized property, worth around $5.6 million, was acquired with the proceeds of criminal activity. Additionally, Surin, who got his nickname from his luxury car fleet, keeps millions of bitcoins in a Coinbase Kenya account.
However, he claims that his Bitcoin holdings were legitimately earned through trading the gold Bullion in Dubai. The fugitive argued that the bitcoins were made through two sales to a trader operating out of “small rooms in shops or buildings” in a Dubai gold shop.
Surin added that the businessman has no website or bookkeeping records to substantiate the alleged sales, as he conducts his business “on the basis of trust and reputation”.
The judge ordered the forfeiture of BTC holdings
CPS representative, Martin Evans Casey, told the High Court that “compelling evidence” suggested the money was made through illicit activity. Evans cited two large transfers to Surin’s Coinbase Kenya account that proceeded from Christian Hargreaves, who was convicted of “conspiracy to supply Class A drugs” and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
According to the report, the CPS told the court that apart from two fake invoices, Surin did not provide any records explaining how he became so rich after the previous asset forfeitures.
In addition, Evans argued that Surin and Hargreaves being British created “sufficient connections to England and Wales” to require the initiation of criminal proceedings to confiscate the bitcoins. Coinbase Kenya account.
Via email, Surin responded to the CPS’s claims, stating that “there is no evidence to show my involvement in any crime that the bitcoins were the proceeds of crime.”
However, Mr. Justice Mold Dismissed His claims and ruling that Surin’s Bitcoin holdings were proceeds from illegal drug trafficking gave the CPS the power to seize crypto assets:
The evidence presented by the (CPS) that in each case those transactions were carried out by Hargreaves with the knowledge of the defendant with a view to laundering money derived from illegal drug trafficking is compelling. (Surin’s) alternative explanation, that each was a legitimate gold bullion sale to Panache Jewels LLC, lacks any credibility in light of (CPS’s) evidence.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $100,456 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
