In a bizarre turn of events, the Swedish government has decided to return Bitcoin worth about $1.5 million to a drug dealer who is currently serving time in prison.
The crypto-verse had been associated with crime time and again. Since the industry wasn’t entirely regulated, criminals and drug dealers decided to use crypto assets to carry out transactions. However, with stringent laws in place, the crypto-sphere has become a safer place.
The crypto assets bagged by authorities are often auctioned. Following a similar process, the Swedish government auctioned off 36 Bitcoins that they had acquired during a drug bust. While the drug dealer sold drugs online and garnered a whopping $1.5 million for doing so, the dealer was nabbed by the police.
As the drug dealer sits in jail, the Swedish government decided to auction the acquired Bitcoin. However, the Swedish Enforcement Authority was able to auction only 3 Bitcoins as it matched the value of fiat of the BTC stolen back in the day.
Swedish Government pays back BTC to drug dealer
Since the government was left with 33 BTC which was worth $1.5 million, they were forced to return it to its owner as per the law. Therefore, the jailed drug dealer got most of his Bitcoin back.
Tove Kullberg, the prosecutor of the drug dealer spoke to Swedish radio and noted,
“It is unfortunate in many ways. It has led to consequences I was not able to foresee at the time. The lesson to be learned from this is to keep the value in Bitcoin, that the profit from the crime should be 36 Bitcoin, regardless of what value the Bitcoin has at the time.”
She further suggested that the government should invest in “an internal education in the prosecution authority as cryptocurrency will be a factor we’ll be dealing with to a much greater extent than we are today.”