Man sentenced for stealing and gambling away £150K of cryptoassets
West Mercia Police have investigated a Ben Noden from Warwickshire
A Warwickshire man has been sentenced after he stole and gambled away over £150,000 in cryptoassets, in West Mercia Police's first ever conviction relating to cryptocurrency.
38 year old Ben Noden, from Shipston-on-Stour, appeared at Worcester Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday 7th May).
He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by employee and fraud by false representation.
Noden has been sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended for 24 months for theft by employee; 12 months suspended for 24 months for fraud by false representation; and 8 months suspended for 24 months for theft by finding.
The sentences would be served concurrently.
What happened?
A cryptoasset tracing investigation against Noden was launched in 2022.
The investigation, which was the first of its kind by West Mercia Police found, Noden had stolen £150,000 which had been invested into cryptoassets.
Cryptoassets or cryptocurrencies are an alternative way of storing value, with transfers and payments occurring through a peer-to-peer system. In other words, users can send and receive the ‘cash’ directly without an intermediary such as a bank.
The complex investigation, led by Reactive CID in Kidderminster, was supported by Detective Constable Dave Allen from West Mercia Police’s Cyber Crime Unit who carried out extensive and meticulous analysis across 90 different cryptoassets across multiple blockchain layers.
In addition to this, they also found Noden had made 11 transactions to his own personal account, stealing approximately £3,000 in cash.
No cryptoassets were seized by the police as Noden had used all the assets to fund a gambling habit.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Mcnelis, who leads the Cyber Crime Unit, said:
“This case marks West Mercia Police’s first successful cryptoasset tracing investigation to reach court and demonstrates the complexity of such investigations and importantly how cryptoassets analysis can support other departments in securing positive outcomes for victims.
“I would like to commend the work of Detective Constable Dave Allen in his determination in a complex investigation to secure this successful outcome at court."