Ohio Man Imprisoned for Stealing $21 Million in Bitcoin from Brother U.K. POLICE HAVE CRYPTO EXPERTS STATIONED NATIONWIDE

An official with the U K National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has deployed crypto tactical advisers to investigate and secure digital assets associated with crimes At a hearing on Tuesday for the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency bill, Andrew Gould, staff officer for NPCC's cryptocurrency portfolio, said that "all forces and regional organized crime units have officers trained and equipped to do that "

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

Gary James Harmon, an Ohio resident, was given a four-year and threemonth prison sentence for pilfering 712 Bitcoin from his own brother, as reported by the U S Department of Harmon confessed to the criminal charges in January, confronted with one count each of wire fraud and obstruction of justice, potentially facing a combined maximum sentence of 40 years At the time of theft, the 712 Bitcoin was valued at approximately $4 8 million However, its worth has skyrocketed to over $21 million in today's market The crime took place in February 2020, following agencies have already increased their efforts to target criminals who use crypto for money laundering or terrorism financing According to Gould, "the government's additional 100 million pounds sterling helped the NPCC strengthen its crypto capabilities " Reports indicated that in 2018, police chiefs lobbied the government for funding to train and equip 250 crypto tactical advisors According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured a number of investigative tools and a capacity for storing seized crypto," he explained� Police seized cryptocurrencies from Komainu during investigations in January to provide them with a more "robust" means of storing them� Despite this, Gould still believes crypto is too costly for the NPCC to keep up� the arrest of Harmon's brother, Larry Dean Harmon

Brother's Illegal Activities and Arrest

Our officers are struggling in the face of the growing complexity of crypto assets," Gould said, adding that their tools can't handle everyone An investigation is best conducted by using more than one tool Gould said, "That's very expensive ”

Larry Dean Harmon was apprehended in February 2020 for running a coinmixing service named Helix Between 2014 and

Furthermore, Gould explained that the police have difficulty retaining staff while competing with the hard-to-turndown salaries offered by the private sector� "One of my sergeants just got offered 200,000 pounds to move to the private sector We can't compete with that at the moment� That's probably the biggest risk we face in this area," Gould said The NPCC has not responded to a request for comment at present time Some police officers in the U�K� earn salaries ranging from anywhere between 28,000 to 100,000 pounds a year

2017, Helix processed over 350,000 Bitcoin and was affiliated with several darknet markets, according to the Justice Department In 2021, Larry pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy and charges related to improper money transmission The Financial Crimes Enforcement

—Crypto Weekly