Australian Police Officer Accused of Stealing Seized 81.6 BTC

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Former federal police officer William Whittle is currently facing charges of stealing bitcoins confiscated from a drug syndicate in a Melbourne court.

In January of 2019, authorities were investigating the illegal trafficking of drugs and steroids through the darknet when they discovered a Trezor crypto hardware wallet with 81.6 BTC on its balance during a search.

The device was handed over to the Icarus task force in an attempt to recover the funds. However, it was later discovered that all of the cryptocurrency had been withdrawn shortly after the wallet was confiscated, amounting to approximately $450,000 at the time.

Today, the value of the stolen cryptocurrency exceeds $4.2 million. Initially, it was suspected that drug dealers’ accomplices were involved in the theft.

However, in 2021, the case was reopened and using new tracking tools, investigators were able to trace the theft back to a police officer.

One of the IP addresses involved was linked to the AFP headquarters in Melbourne. The investigation revealed that between January 29 and April 11, 2019, the stolen assets were transferred to various cryptocurrency platforms through 28 transactions.