UK authorities carried out The first non-fungible token confiscation due to fraud in historyUnless it happens publicly. Officials from the Department of Revenue and Customs confiscated three unofficial ones owned by three people for defrauding 1.4 million pounds, it was reported. BBC reports.
It appears that the suspects participated in a complex conspiracy through about 250 front companies To evade the value-added tax they had to pay to the British Treasury. The amount defrauded from UK coffers will be 1.4 million pounds (about 1.7 million euros). By collecting all the data needed to take legal action, HM Revenue and Customs obtained a court order to seize £5,000 worth of digital assets and three unofficial digital artworks owned by the suspects.
Although no more details are known about the case yet, the seizure of the NFT in a judicial process is a clear indication that the various state authorities These digital assets are being taken increasingly seriously. In fact, the Deputy Director of Revenue and Customs noted after the research that this was a warning to all those who wanted to hide illicit money by purchasing digital assets: “We are constantly adapting to new technologies to ensure that we are prepared yet as criminals and evaders try to hide their assets.” .
Hence, the suspects had used the fraudulent funds to purchase NFTs for digital artworks with the aim of money laundering Thus shutting down the network they built to hide their illicit activities, which also included the use of fake and stolen identities and fake invoices and companies.
The British state’s confiscation of these NFTs joins other government actions that have taken place in recent weeks with regard to digital assets, from strict control over China to regulations in Russia or various European Union countries, through plans for the Euro Digital System, which refers to non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrencies. It takes up increasingly more space in the plans of various governments.
Likewise, it also highlights that criminals are trying to take advantage of its lack of organization, for the time being, for illegal purposes.
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