The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced the forfeiture of $3 billion worth of bitcoins from a fraudster who defrauded the dark web’s Silk Road store and stole more than 50,000 bitcoins.

The accused pleaded guilty to the crime of electronic fraud which occurred and was committed more than a decade ago.

A fraudster can be jailed for up to 20 years.

inside Press release On Monday (November 7, 2022), the Department of Justice revealed the seizure of more than 50,000 bitcoins from fraudster “James Zhong” accused of defrauding a Silk Road store.

Bitcoin was initially minted almost a year ago, on November 9, 2021, and was worth about $3.4 billion at the time.
According to the US Department of Justice in September 2012, this criminal defrauded a Silk Road store by setting up nine accounts to hide his identity and withdrawing approximately 50,000 bitcoins.

When Bitcoin Cash split in August 2017, leading to the creation of the cryptocurrency (BCH), Jong was given an additional 50,000 BCH, which he exchanged for 3,500 BCH.

Subsequently, Defendant’s total Bitcoin stock at that time was 53,500 BTC.

The seizure was the Ministry of Justice’s largest financial seizure at the time and the second largest at the current time.

Zhang pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on November 4, 2022.

The penalty, as we have indicated, can reach 20 years.

Meanwhile, the US government is trying to confiscate 51,351 bitcoins.

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement:

James Zhang committed wire fraud a decade ago when he stole nearly 50,000 bitcoins from Silk Road.

Over nearly ten years, the value of lost Bitcoin has risen to $3.3 billion.

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