In 2012, James Zhong hacked the Silk Road withdrawal processing system and transferred more than 50,000 BTC to his accounts. Despite the close attention of law enforcement to the details and defendants in the Silk Road case, Zhong was able to hide his crime for ten years and pleaded guilty only in November 2022.
During a search of Zhong’s home in November 2021, approximately 50,676 BTC were seized, which at the time was valued at $3.36 billion. This confiscation was the second largest in the history of the US Department of Justice. The court sentenced Zhong to one year and one day in prison for wire fraud, burglary, and robbery of a “shady” Silk Road marketplace.
“Cybercriminals need to hear that we will track down all thefts of crypto assets and hold them accountable, no matter how complex the scheme is or how long the investigation takes. Zhong used decentralized mixers, overseas cryptocurrency exchanges, and an impressive array of technological tools to thwart law enforcement efforts. However, the federal government solved Zhong’s crime and confiscated 51,680 BTC,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in his closing speech at the trial.
Earlier, the US government notified the public of its intention to sell more than 51,000 BTC confiscated from Zhong amid the global banking crisis.
Source: Bits
I am an experienced journalist, writer, and editor with a passion for finance and business news. I have been working in the journalism field for over 6 years, covering a variety of topics from finance to technology. As an author at World Stock Market, I specialize in finance business-related topics.
