An Australian police officer recently appeared in a Melbourne court where he faced charges of stealing 81.616 bitcoins from a crypto wallet seized from drug traffickers. After initially blaming the drug traffickers,’ the Australian Federal Police later reopened the case after an expert found evidence linking the theft to a former police officer. The accused police officer’s lawyer has vowed to fight all the allegations against his client.
Australian Police Officer in Court for Stealing Nearly 82 BTC From Seized Drug Trafficker's Wallet
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New Tracing Tools Unmask BTC Thief’s Identity
Recently, an Australian police officer made an appearance in a Melbourne Magistrate Court, facing charges of stealing 81.616 bitcoin ( BTC) from a cryptocurrency wallet. This wallet had been seized from a drug trafficking ring. According to a report, the officer, William Wheatley, is alleged to have committed the offence in January 2019.
Prior to Wheatley’s arraignment, Australian authorities initially thought that an accomplice of the drug traffickers was responsible for the theft. However, the case was reopened in 2021 after new tracing tools used by the police suggested that the theft was carried out by a member of the Australian Federal Police.
As per a report by News.Com.Au, the theft was first discovered on Feb. 14, 2019, by Cyber Crime Squad Detective Sergeant Deon Achtypis. The report said the theft might have taken place about four days after the initial seizure of the wallet. Initially, the BTC, which was worth approximately $450,000 at the time, was subsequently transferred to two other wallets. Achtypis reportedly lost track of the funds’ movements thereafter.
Stolen Funds Reportedly Transferred to Wheatly’s Accounts
Nevertheless, the detective still managed to link relevant IP addresses to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) headquarters in Melbourne. This finding led Achtypis to consider the possibility that a member of the AFP was responsible for the theft.
“I formed the opinion that a police member may have been involved in the movement of the cryptocurrency,” the Detective Sergeant said in a statement.
Subsequently, the AFP enlisted the services of Craig Gillespie, a cryptocurrency investigator, to trace the stolen BTC. Gillespie’s investigation led to the discovery of as many as 28 transactions from a third-party wallet to undisclosed crypto trading platforms. It was also revealed that a portion of the funds had been transferred to Wheatley’s accounts between 2019 and September 2022.
Wheatley’s lawyer meanwhile has labelled the case against his client as “circumstantial.” He has pledged to challenge all the allegations levelled against his client.
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