Dutch Prosecutors Now Have Authority to Seize Bitcoins
It is being reported by DutchNews.nl (via Trouw) that the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (also known as Openbaar Ministerie) now has the authority to seize virtual currencies like bitcoin from criminals and hold it in their own wallets. They can also take the digital currency belonging to a suspect as part of an ongoing investigation. Of course, there are the 'bad guys' who think bitcoin and digital currencies are a great way to store money because these transactions can be difficult to trace, but that's apparently not the case here. Trouw (paywall) states that while it's legally more....
Related News
Prosecutors from the Netherlands have seized 2,532 bitcoins worth $33 million after a couple was convicted of money laundering by the Rotterdam District Court. The man and his wife were sentenced to two years for illegal money transmission and the court claims the couple’s bitcoin stash was used on the deep web. Dutch officials recently arrested and charged a man and his wife for illegal money transmission and money laundering. According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service from the Rotterdam District Court, the two suspects laundered close to $19 million using bitcoin during the....
Dutch prosecutors have announced the arrest of ten men suspected of using Bitcoin to launder up to 20 million euros (approx. $21.8 million). A major international investigation that reportedly involved officials from countries including the United States, Australia, Lithuania and Morocco has resulted in the apprehending of ten men in Netherlands, Dutch prosecutors announced today. The prosecutors made a marked statement to emphasize that traders engaging in illegal operations on the Dark Web, aren’t always doing so anonymously. Referencing this, a statement by the prosecutors read:....
A criminal justice service based in the Netherlands has been granted the power to confiscate digital currency holdings. As originally reported by Dutch newspaper Trouw, the Openbaar Ministerie, a national public prosecution service within the judiciary, now has the legal ability to seize the contents of bitcoin wallets from suspected or convicted criminals. It can also sell acquired bitcoins for fiat currencies soon after they are confiscated. According to DutchNews, citing original reports, the Openbaar Ministerie has already used this power to sell several hundred thousand euros worth of....
Dutch public prosecutors and the tax inspection agency are ramping up their fight against bitcoin money laundering this year. According to research conducted by Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieel Dagblad (FD), at least three criminal cases pertaining to money laundering with bitcoin are scheduled for 2017. Additionally, the FIOD — the investigative arm of the Dutch tax authority — wants to lower the bar for prosecution of unlicensed bitcoin traders. The FIOD will also try to have mixing services recognized as money-laundering operations. The Challenge of Anonymity. Bitcoin’s relative....
It looks as if it’s already time to update Monday’s assessment of the Netherlands as one of Europe’s Bitcoin centers. According to Dutch newspaper Trouw [NL and paywall], the country’s Openbaar Ministerie, or public prosecution office, can take a suspect’s digital currency and put it in a new wallet as part of an investigation. “Once the bitcoins have been transferred to the justice ministry they are immediately cashed in. So far several hundred pieces of the virtual currency have been confiscated, worth several hundred thousand euros.”