Man convicted after cryptocurrency robbery

John Ross-D'Alfonso was described as the "technical" brains behind the crime

A 28-year-old man from Lanarkshire has been convicted after having up to £1.2m worth of cryptocurrency in his account following a violent robbery.

John Ross D'Alfonso was described as the "technical" brains behind the crime - thought to be the first robbery in Scotland involving stolen cryptocurrency.

He had denied being part of the raid itself but was found guilty of reset, meaning he knowingly had something that was stolen and intended to keep it.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that three men went into a home in Blantyre in Lanarkshire and forced the homeowner to transfer his Bitcoin, a form of digital cash, to D'Alfonso's account.

The court was told that one of the men in the house was armed with a machete, and another repeatedly struck a woman on the head with a personalised Toblerone bar until it was covered in blood.

The three men then escaped in an expensive Audi car belonging to the homeowner after the cash was transferred.

The court heard that because of the unstable nature of the value of Bitcoin, it could have been worth anywhere between £100,000 and £1.2m when stolen on 18 March 2020.

D'Alfonso, who was a delivery driver from Cambuslang, had been described as the technical mind behind the robbery and denied being involved on the day.

He insisted a "scary" relative had forced him to put the money into his account.

Jurors were told there was "no dispute" the digital cash had been stolen and that it ended up in D'Alfonso's account and was transferred elsewhere.

Prosecutors said D'Alfonso had not been at the robbery that night and instead gave "technical expertise" to help steal the money.

D'Alfonso was cleared of robbery and assault charges and will be sentenced later this month in Edinburgh.

Det Insp Craig Potter, of Police Scotland’s Cyber Investigations unit called the case a complex investigation.

"This is a complex and constantly evolving technology," he said.

"Specialist cybercrime officers were able to follow the movement of funds to show he had been responsible for the bitcoin wallet which received the stolen funds.

"This conviction demonstrates Police Scotland capability and commitment to tackling criminality involving the digital space and bringing criminals operating in this world to justice."