Scottish prosecutors converted and seized almost $144,000 (£110,000) worth of Bitcoin from the “technical brains” behind a home invasion in which a crypto holder was threatened with a machete.
John Ross Rennie was convicted in October 2023 after being found guilty of “reset relating to cryptocurrency,” relating to his indirect involvement in the robbery.
The late-night robbery took place at the unnamed victim’s own home in the town of Blantyre, near Glasgow, in March 2020.
Three men forced the unnamed man to transfer the Bitcoin to an account later found by police to be controlled by Rennie, 29.
They also took a car and other valuable items and injured a woman after beating her with a personalized Toblerone chocolate bar. The men also allegedly performed a throat-slitting gesture with the chocolate bar at the woman.
Though he was not directly involved in the robbery, Rennie was found guilty in November 2023 of a crime known as “reset” in UK law. This is the possession of stolen goods.
In a separate hearing which concluded on Monday in the Edinburgh High Court, prosecutors used proceeds of crime legislation to convert and seize 23.5 BTC from Rennie as physical cash, with the Bitcoin valued at £109,601.
At the time of the theft in March 2020, the price of Bitcoin ranged between $5,032 and $9,135. The 23.5 BTC would be worth around $1.37 million (£1.04 million) at current prices.
Rennie’s defense argued that he was coerced into his involvement, by a “scary” and “violent” family member who was not someone "you said no to," according to reporting by Sky News.
During his initial trial at the High Court in Glasgow, it was found that Rennie played a “pivotal” role in the crime, as he provided the technical know-how on how to facilitate the Bitcoin transfer.
It also found that Rennie, who works as a delivery driver, had “siphoned off” $46,000 (£35,000) for himself.
Though Rennie had been sentenced in 2023, Lady Ross, the judge presiding over the case, said she wanted to set a legal precedent about how cryptocurrency should be used in proceeds of crime cases.
Scotland has a distinct, though related, legal system to the rest of the UK. This means Scottish judges' decisions may not be binding in comparable cases in England and Wales.
There have been several other instances of organized criminals using home invasions in order to steal cryptocurrency.
In June, a 24-year-old Florida man was convicted of leading a group that targeted cryptocurrency owners across the U.S. for nine months.
The group attempted to identify potential victims using unauthorized access to email accounts and physical surveillance before orchestrating break-ins.