- A former National Crime Agency (NCA) officer who stole Bitcoin from a live investigation has been jailed.
- Paul Chowles transferred 50 BTC from a wallet seized during the investigation into Silk Road 2.0.
- He pleaded guilty to theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing criminal property in May 2025.
A former National Crime Agency (NCA) officer has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for stealing Bitcoin from an investigation he was part of.
Paul Chowles was involved in law enforcement busts that took down the darknet marketplaces, Silk Road and Silk Road 2.0. During the second investigation, Chowles covertly transferred 50 BTC from a seized wallet in 2017.
The Missing Silk Road Bitcoin
In 2014, Thomas White, who had launched Silk Road 2.0 less than a month after the FBI shut down the original site in 2013, was arrested in the U.K.
Law enforcement seized a crypto wallet containing 97 BTC generated by the darknet market as part of the investigation. However, between 6 and 7 May, 2017, 50 BTC worth over £4.4 million today was transferred to another address.
Suspicions Aroused
At first, it was assumed White had removed the Bitcoin. However, he told investigators that only someone from the NCA could have accessed the funds, as he no longer had the private key.
After White was released on licence in early 2022, Merseyside Police, who had responsibility for managing White in the local area, launched an investigation into the stolen Bitcoin.
Chowles was arrested in May 2022. He pleaded guilty to theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing criminal property in May 2025.
“This case should illustrate in the starkest terms that nobody is above the law,” said Detective Chief Inspector John Black, from Merseyside Police’s Force Intelligence Bureau.
“When it became clear that one of the NCA’s own officers had stolen Bitcoin, our officers conducted extensive enquiries to unearth a trail of evidence that Chowles had attempted to hide. This was supported fully by the NCA,” he added.
How Police Traced the Missing Funds
To launder the stolen funds, Chowles used the Bitcoin Fog crypto mixer.
However, using blockchain analytics tools from Chainalysis , Merseyside Police were still able to identify the Bitcoin’s final destination.
Investigators discovered that some of the funds were cashed out at exchanges, which, because they collect information about users, provided a crucial lead that helped identify Chowles as the culprit.
