Oxford cryptocurrency case: Man jailed for stealing more than £2m

Wybbo Wiersma, 40, was living in Oxford when he was arrested in 2019

A man has been jailed for stealing more than £2m in cryptocurrency following a worldwide investigation.

Wybbo Wiersma, 40, who was living in Oxford when he was arrested in 2019, pleaded guilty to theft on the second day of his trial.

Police said some of the victims lost their life savings and businesses.

Wiersma, of Gorredijk, The Netherlands, was jailed for four years and six months at Oxford Crown Court.

Wiersma stole cryptocurrency worth £2,156,000

Following a police investigation involving more than 100 potential victims around the world, detectives seized computers, drugs and cash in a raid on an Oxford property on 23 January 2019.

It followed reports in January 2018 of the loss of IOTA cryptocurrency tokens, which are controlled through an 81-character code.

Police said Wiersma had set up a website under an alias to generate the codes and gain control of the tokens.

Cryptocurrency with a value of £2,156,000 was stolen, South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) said.

Following his arrest and release on bail, Wiersma moved back to The Netherlands from where he was extradited in 2021.

'Funds seized'

Det Insp Rob Bryant, of SEROCU, said: "This was a particularly complex investigation involving more than 100 victims worldwide.

"Wiersma deprived people of their money which they had invested in cryptocurrency, moving it through a web of trading accounts and causing some to lose businesses and life savings.

"We will make every effort to ensure that the victims of the offence are reunited with the funds police seized as part of the investigation."

The criminal investigation also involved state police from Hesse in Germany as well as Europol.