Ex-NCA Officer Paul Chowles Ordered to Repay £1.8m: How UK Bitcoin Confiscation Orders Work

Paul Chowles, a former National Crime Agency officer jailed in 2025 for stealing 50 bitcoin seized in a dark web investigation, was ordered on 30 September 2026 to pay £1,810,678.93 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The coins were worth about £60,000 when he took them in 2017. The order is far larger because UK confiscation law can value property at today's price, not the price on the day.

That gap, £60,000 then versus £1.8 million now, is what has sent people searching, and it's the part most reports skate past. Below are the confirmed facts from the Crown Prosecution Service, then the mechanics of how a confiscation order is worked out when the stolen asset is bitcoin.

What did Paul Chowles actually do?

Chowles, an operational NCA officer from Bristol, stole 50 of the 97 bitcoin the agency had seized from Thomas White, who ran the Silk Road 2.0 marketplace. According to the CPS, he moved the coins out of a "retirement wallet" on 6 and 7 May 2017, then tried to hide the trail through a mixing service.

The CPS says the bitcoin was split into smaller amounts, passed through the Bitcoin Fog mixer and moved between addresses. He later converted some to sterling and spent some through crypto debit card accounts he had set up with Cryptopay and Wirex.

The theft came to light in an unusual way. The missing coins had been written off as untraceable by late 2021. White, released in 2022 and under Merseyside Police management, said someone with access to his private keys, which only NCA staff held, must have taken them. Merseyside officers investigated, and Chowles was arrested in May 2022. Police found an iPhone linked to a transfer account and notebooks containing White's usernames and passwords.

Photo: Man vyi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What was he convicted of, and what was the sentence?

He pleaded guilty on 23 May 2025 to theft, transferring criminal property and concealing criminal property. Liverpool Crown Court sentenced him on 16 July 2025 to five years and six months in total. The NCA had dismissed him five days earlier, on 11 July 2025.

The CPS gave the breakdown as 30 months for theft, 12 months concurrent for transferring criminal property, and three years consecutive for concealing it. Sentence was only half the story, though. The CPS said at the time it would pursue confiscation, and that concluded on 30 September.

Date	Event (as reported by the CPS)
6–7 May 2017	50 BTC moved from the seized "retirement wallet"
Late 2021	Missing coins written off as untraceable
May 2022	Chowles arrested by Merseyside Police
23 May 2025	Guilty pleas to three offences
11 July 2025	Dismissed from the NCA
16 July 2025	Jailed for five years and six months
30 September 2026	Confiscation order of £1,810,678.93

Why is the confiscation order £1.8m when he stole £60,000?

Because UK confiscation law lets the court value property at the higher of its value when obtained (adjusted for inflation) or its value at the hearing. Bitcoin has climbed hugely since 2017, so the benefit figure ballooned. The order then can't exceed what the defendant actually has available to pay.

The CPS valued the 50 coins at £59,409 at the time of the theft. By the time of his 2025 sentencing it estimated them at more than £4.4 million. The Register reported that the court assessed his criminal benefit at £1,970,759.27, but set the order at £1,810,678.93, the "available amount" it found he could pay. That figure includes the value of 30 bitcoin recovered from him.

Here's the logic in plain steps, drawn from the CPS's own legal guidance on the Proceeds of Crime Act:

1. Benefit. The court works out what the defendant gained from the crime, valuing property at the greater of its inflation-adjusted value when obtained or its value now.
2. Available amount. It then looks at what the defendant actually holds, less certain priority debts, plus the value of any "tainted gifts".
3. Recoverable amount. The order is the benefit figure, unless the defendant shows the available amount is lower. Then it's the lower number.

Honestly, this is one of the few areas of law where crypto's volatility works squarely against the offender. Each coin was worth roughly £1,190 when it was taken; the benefit figure The Register reported works out at nearly £39,400 a coin.

What happens if he doesn't pay?

Payment is due on the day the order is made, though a court can allow up to three months, and a further three on application. If it isn't paid, a default prison term kicks in, interest runs on the unpaid balance, and HM Courts and Tribunals Service enforces it.

The CPS guidance sets the maximum default terms by size of order:

Order amount	Maximum default term
£10,000 or less	6 months
Over £10,000 up to £500,000	5 years
Over £500,000 up to £1 million	7 years
Over £1 million	14 years

The CPS hasn't published the default term set in this case, so we won't guess at it. Serving a default term doesn't wipe the debt, by the way. The order still stands. The CPS also said a compensation order was made for the victim, paid towards their outstanding balance.

What happens to bitcoin seized by UK authorities?

Seized crypto is held by the investigating agency until a court decides what happens to it. Once it's realised, money from confiscation goes first to receivers, then to victim compensation, with the rest going to the Treasury. Under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, half goes to the Home Office and the remainder is shared between agencies and HMCTS.

That's the routine version. The extraordinary one is the 61,000 bitcoin from the Zhimin Qian fraud, where the fight is over whether victims or the state should benefit from years of price rises. We've covered that in our UK seized bitcoin explainer. Since April 2024 the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act has also given UK law enforcement specific powers to seize, freeze and recover cryptoassets, including in civil cases without a conviction.

The Chowles case adds an uncomfortable footnote. Seized coins are only as safe as the people and processes guarding the keys. A seized wallet whose credentials sit in an officer's notebook isn't really secured at all.

Photo via Unsplash

Frequently asked questions

Who is Paul Chowles? He's a former National Crime Agency officer from Bristol. He pleaded guilty in May 2025 to stealing 50 bitcoin seized from the operator of Silk Road 2.0, and was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court in July 2025 for five years and six months.

How much was the Paul Chowles confiscation order? £1,810,678.93, made on 30 September 2026 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, according to the CPS. It includes the value of 30 bitcoin recovered from him and reflects how much bitcoin's price rose after the 2017 theft.

How much were the stolen bitcoin worth? The CPS valued the 50 bitcoin at £59,409 when they were taken in May 2017. By his sentencing in July 2025, it estimated their value at more than £4.4 million.

Can a UK court confiscate crypto at today's price? Yes. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, property is valued at the greater of its inflation-adjusted value when obtained or its value at the confiscation hearing. The order is capped at what the defendant can actually pay.

Where does confiscated crypto money go? After receivers' costs and any victim compensation, the remainder goes to the Treasury. Under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, the Home Office keeps half and the rest is split between the investigating and prosecuting agencies and HMCTS.

What this means for you

For most people, this is a court story, not a personal one. The practical lessons are about custody: whoever controls the private keys controls the coins. If you hold bitcoin, our self-custody guide covers keeping keys safe, and our piece on how UK police trace crypto on-chain explains why mixers didn't save this theft from discovery.