A
30-year-old man from Bath, England has denied eight charges of
fraudulent activities involving the use of Bitcoin. The accused, Ryan
Kennedy, was arraigned at the Bristol crown court on September 11, The
Sun reports.
Highly sophisticated
While there had been already many cases of Bitcoin
scams for the past years, Kennedy's case is said to be unique in that
it employed sophisticated strategies to trick victims worldwide. While
details aren’t presently available due to the upcoming trial, Kennedy’s
defense attorney, Dominic Thomas, states:
"This is, as far as counsel are aware, the first trial of its kind.”
Kennedy is charged with crimes from 2014 and is said to have stolen a total of £1 million in Bitcoin. This money was allegedly used to support a luxurious lifestyle.
Finally, in June of this year, the Avon and Somerset police
filed charges against Kennedy after three years of investigation by the
Economic Crime Team. Included in the eight charges against Kennedy are
money-laundering and fraudulent trading, which he denied in court on
Monday.
Thomas also added that the case is one of a kind and that
evidence will be coming from all over the world, including Finland and
America. As part of his alleged fraud, Kennedy apparently operated under
different identities and even feigned being a lawyer with a degree from
Balliol College, Oxford.
The accused will have to go back to court for the case
management hearing on December 18, and will stand trial on September 3,
2018.
Increasing number of Bitcoin-related crimes
While this specific case may be unique, it’s not the first time that Bitcoin-related crimes and thefts have occurred. Examples of such cases include a British model getting auctioned for Bitcoin and a man in Pennsylvania admitting to stealing $40 mln worth of Bitcoin. In fact, the man accused of the largest Bitcoin scam is set to be sentenced in January 2018.
Bitcoin is becoming a favorite for hackers and criminals as a way to launder their money. Additionally, NYU and Google researchers think Bitcoin ransomware and hacking evolve into a billion-dollar business.
