Seized Cryptocurrency Is Sold By The German Prosecutors
Prosecutors in the German federal state of Bavaria have sold seized cryptocurrency worth €12 mln ($13.9 mln), the highest such sale in German legal history, local news Der Tagesspiegel reported May 28.
On may 28 local news Der Tagesspiegel reported that in the German Federal state of Bavaria the national prosecutors sold the confiscated cryptocurrency worth € 12 million ($13.9 million), which is the highest such sale in German legal history.
Sales are reported to be 1312 Bitcoins (PTS), in addition to a significant number of other digital currencies, including 1399 Bitcoin Cash, 1312 Bitcoin Gold and 220 Ethereum. The cryptocurrencies that were seized in criminal proceedings were sold for two months in 1,600 individual transactions. The Prosecutor’s office commented on the sale:
“Since all cryptocurrencies are exposed to the risk of high price fluctuations or even total loss, the Bayern Central Cybercrime Office ordered an emergency sale.”
The financial means were raised in criminal proceedings against the online platform “Lesen und Lauschen “, which illegally offered more than 200,000 e-books and audiobooks, asking only a few cents as payment. As per Der Tagesspiegel, the platform was used by at least 30,000 people. The site operators were banned last June by employees of the Bayern Central Cybercrime Office, who further prohibited the website.
The sale at auction of assets seized in criminal investigations is a general practice of law enforcement agencies over the world. While Germany raised nearly $14 million from the sale of cryptocurrency, the US Marshals Service raised more than $40 million for 3,812 BTC seized in civil and criminal proceedings in January.
