Courts seize £110,000 of crypto cash in Scots legal first

John Ross Rennie received stolen Bitcoin after an assault and robbery in March 2020.

A man involved in a violent robbery to steal cryptocurrency has had £110,000 seized by the Crown in a Scots legal first.

Prosecutors have used proceeds of crime legislation to convert and seize Bitcoin from John Ross Rennie as physical cash.

Rennie, 29, was convicted of possessing of stolen goods after a man was forced to transfer Bitcoin during an assault at a home in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, in March 2020.

He was given a community sentence for being the “technical brains” behind the raid by three men, but had denied taking part in the robbery itself.

Prosecution lawyers took Rennie, of Cambuslang, to court using proceeds of crime legislation earlier this year.

Judge Lady Ross wanted legal authority about how it could be settled with cryptocurrency.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, lawyers agreed that the 23.5 Bitcoin could be converted into physical cash and that the sum should be £109,601.

'Pivotal role'

Delivery driver Rennie had been given 150 hours of unpaid work and a six month supervision order in November last year.

His trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard that the victim was forced to transfer cryptocurrency after waking up to find a man standing over him with a machete.

A woman in the home was also repeatedly struck with a Toblerone bar and thrown into a bedroom.

One of the three men involved in the attack made a “throat-slitting gesture” with the bloodied chocolate bar before they fled the scene.

Rennie was said to have a “pivotal role” in providing technical expertise to the men on how to transfer the Bitcoin.

Police Scotland said it was the first robbery in Scotland to involve tracing stolen cryptocurrency.

Rennie's lawyer Marco Guarino said: "It has been an unusual case throughout".