Irish authorities have seized an additional 500 BTC linked to Clifton Collins, marking a significant recovery in an ongoing investigation.
The Irish Criminal Assets Bureau has successfully seized another 500 BTC linked to Clifton Collins, identifying these funds as illicit gains.
This latest recovery is part of an ongoing investigation into 12 Bitcoin wallets that previously held a total of 6,000 BTC, which have been rendered largely inaccessible due to lost access keys.
Earlier this year, authorities managed to retrieve 500 BTC in March and another 500 BTC in May, with the assistance of the European Cybercrime Centre at Europol, which provided critical decryption resources.
Collins, who was convicted in 2020 for cultivating cannabis, received a five-year prison sentence and was ordered to forfeit his cryptocurrency holdings. He began investing in Bitcoin around 2011-2012, transferring about 89 BTC himself, but claims to have lost access to the majority of his wallets.
The private keys were reportedly hidden in a fishing tackle box at a rented property, but they were lost during cleaning or police searches. Law enforcement has since been working to unlock the wallets.
According to Arkham Intelligence, approximately 4,500 BTC (valued at around $277 million) remains in wallets associated with Collins, indicating that nine of the original wallets have yet to be accessed.
