---
title: "Former UK NCA Officer Ordered to Repay £1.8 Million After Stealing Seized Bitcoin"
description: "Paul Chowles, sentenced in 2025 for siphoning 50 BTC from a Silk Road 2.0 probe, faces a confiscation order reflecting the asset's price surge."
url: https://basisdesk.news/news/ex-nca-officer-repay-bitcoin-theft-confiscation
published: 2026-09-30T15:41:12.794Z
modified: 2026-09-30T15:41:12.794Z
section: Regulation & Policy
author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified)
sentiment: neutral
tickers: [BTC]
tags: [crime, bitcoin, uk, law-enforcement, confiscation]
license: Quote with attribution to Basis Desk (basisdesk.news). Not financial advice.
---

# Former UK NCA Officer Ordered to Repay £1.8 Million After Stealing Seized Bitcoin

Paul Chowles, sentenced in 2025 for siphoning 50 BTC from a Silk Road 2.0 probe, faces a confiscation order reflecting the asset's price surge.

## Key points

- Former NCA officer Paul Chowles received an order to repay £1,810,678.93 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
- Chowles stole 50 seized Bitcoin while working on the Silk Road 2.0 investigation; 30 Bitcoin were subsequently recovered.
- The stolen BTC was valued at roughly £60,000 at the time of theft before long-term price gains expanded the confiscation value.

## Editorial remark

- **Context:** Chowles was dismissed from the NCA and sentenced in July 2025 after abusing his digital forensics role on the Silk Road 2.0 case to divert seized cryptocurrency.
- **Impact:** UK authorities continue to leverage the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to capture the appreciated fiat value of crypto assets rather than merely nominal theft valuations.
- **Watch:** Collection and disbursement of the £1.81 million order, including distribution via the court-ordered victim compensation structure.

A former officer with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has been directed to pay more than £1.8 million ($2.4 million) following the theft of seized cryptocurrency, according to a Sept. 30 announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) [1]. Paul Chowles, 44, previously received a sentence of five years and six months at Liverpool Crown Court in July 2025 after entering guilty pleas to theft, concealing criminal property, and transferring criminal property [1].

Chowles misappropriated 50 $BTC that law enforcement had confiscated during an inquiry into the dark web platform Silk Road 2.0 [1]. Assigned to analyze and extract digital assets from impounded devices, Chowles diverted the funds from an official wallet and attempted to obscure the transaction chain across multiple transfers [1]. Authorities subsequently recovered 30 of the stolen Bitcoin [1].

## Asset Appreciation Magnifies Confiscation Total

While the 50 Bitcoin held a market value of roughly £60,000 when stolen, subsequent market appreciation substantially elevated the final recovery sum [1]. At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades around $84,175. The CPS secured the confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for £1,810,678.93, an amount that incorporates the current value of the 30 recovered coins [1]. A compensation order was also issued to allocate proceeds toward the victim's outstanding confiscation balance [1].

The case mirrors broader British enforcement efforts against illicit digital finance, including recent actions where the [UK FCA secured confiscation orders against crypto fraudsters](https://basisdesk.news/news/uk-fca-confiscation-orders-crypto-fraud) under similar proceeds-of-crime statutes. Chowles was dismissed from the NCA on July 11, 2025, following a Merseyside Police investigation [1]. Over the preceding five years, the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division reported collecting more than £530 million through statutory confiscation orders [1].

## Sources

1. [Ex-NCA officer ordered to repay more than £1.8m following Bitcoin theft](https://www.cps.gov.uk/national-news/news/ex-nca-officer-ordered-repay-more-ps18m-following-bitcoin-theft) — cps.gov.uk, 2026-09-30

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Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai