The Avon and Somerset Police in the UK said it has completed a forfeiture that recovered more than £1 million in cash, Bitcoin and other digital assets from a deceased, convicted money launderer.

The Financial Investigation Unit said in an August 27 statement that the seizure is the largest crypto recovery on record. It comes amid a UK-wide effort to address criminal groups that use blockchain technology to conceal and move digital assets through illicit channels.

UK police recover crypto from deceased defendant

A UK court authorized Avon and Somerset Police to seize a total of £1,032,487.86 under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the UK’s primary legislation for stripping criminal gains, in a case filed earlier this year. The recovered assets included 20.21 BTC, other crypto assets and cash held in a bank account.

Police said the assets were treated as “proceeds of unlawful conduct” following the investigation linked to the subject’s money laundering conviction. Forfeiture applications under POCA are civil proceedings brought against the property itself, rather than penalties imposed on an individual.

The force did not name the defendant, who is now deceased. However, it said the tokens were linked to darknet marketplaces that operated between 2016 and 2019, using what it described as specialist tracing methods, according to Bristol Live. Darknet markets — hidden online marketplaces accessible only via anonymising browser software — were widespread during that period and commonly settled payments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The case also stands out because it is the largest seizure Avon and Somerset Police has carried out since UK authorities were given the power to issue crypto wallet freeze orders in April 2024. Those powers were created by amendments to POCA under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which extended the existing asset-freezing and seizure regime explicitly to crypto assets.

Under that regime, police do not need a conviction before freezing a crypto wallet. Reasonable criminal suspicion is enough to justify a freeze.

Money recovered through the POCA process is not placed into the general Treasury. Under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, a share of assets recovered under the Act is returned to the police forces and partner agencies involved in the seizure, and Avon and Somerset Police said the funds will support community and police work, including education and training, early intervention and crime prevention initiatives.

Police say blockchain records help investigations

Detective Constable Anthony Davis of the Financial Investigation Unit said criminals often misunderstand the nature of cryptoassets and assume they can be used anonymously.

“Many people think cryptocurrencies provide anonymity, help conceal wealth and place assets beyond the reach of law enforcement,” Davis said. “In reality, a permanent record of transactions is stored on a digital leger called a blockchain, which can be an invaluable source of evidence.”

He added that the force would “continue to use all available powers to identify, trace and recover criminal property, regardless of the form it takes.”

Part of a broader UK crackdown on crypto crime

The seizure fits a broader pattern of British agencies treating blockchain data as an investigative lead. In July, the Metropolitan Police jailed three men who impersonated officers to steal more than £4 million in crypto from eight victims, recovering about £1 million in victim funds after tracing wallets, aliases and exchange records, the Met said.

Regulators have also stepped up enforcement. In April, the Financial Conduct Authority, which supervises UK cryptoasset businesses under the country’s anti-money-laundering rules, carried out what it called its first coordinated crackdown on illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading, targeting eight London premises alongside HMRC and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, according to the FCA’s press release.

The same SWROCU unit this month closed a separate £2.2 million money laundering case in which the laundered cash was immediately converted into cryptocurrency.

Across these cases, investigators have increasingly relied on blockchain transaction records to trace funds that once might have disappeared through cash-based laundering routes.