A former National Crime Agency officer who worked on the Silk Road investigation has been ordered to repay more than £1.8 million after stealing Bitcoin seized from a convicted administrator of Silk Road 2.0. Paul Chowles, 44, took 50 Bitcoin from a wallet controlled by Thomas White while leading analysis of White's devices.
The theft happened in May 2017, when the coins were worth about £60,000. Chowles split the Bitcoin and sent it through the Bitcoin Fog mixing service. By the time of his sentencing in July 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service valued the 50 Bitcoin at more than £4.4 million. Liverpool Crown Court ordered Chowles to pay £1,810,678.93, the amount he was assessed as able to pay.
Suspicion fell on Chowles after White insisted someone inside the NCA had taken the coins. An investigation by Merseyside Police found an iPhone linking Chowles to a Bitcoin account and notebooks with White's cryptocurrency credentials. Chowles was dismissed from the NCA in July 2025 and sentenced to five years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to theft and related charges.