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A Northampton couple held with around $400,000 worth bitcoin in a drug case.

A couple of drug dealers that used bitcoin to buy and sell illegal substances have been issued with confiscation orders in No
A couple of drug dealers that used bitcoin to buy and sell illegal substances have been issued with confiscation orders in Northampton.

A couple has been issued with confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA). Lia Johnson and Paul Johnson have been charged with selling illegal drugs using cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, Paul Johnson pleaded guilty to supplying class A and B drugs, possession with intent to supply class A drugs, improper importation of banned substances, and five counts of money laundering. Paul Johnson, formerly of Northampton Road, Market Harborough, was sentenced to eight years in prison, four of those years will be served on the license.

The police confiscated nearly $4,000 worth of bitcoin from the couple.

When officers executed a warrant, they seized Paul Johnson’s laptop and secured Bitcoin wallets containing 22.7 coins. The confiscated bitcoins were valued at more than £300,000 ($380,000). Drugs to the value of nearly £7,000 were also recovered from their home address. Earlier, Lia Johnson had also pleaded guilty on four counts of money laundering and served a two-year custodial sentence, suspended for two years.

Confiscated bitcoins will be sold to recover the money.

According to the Leicestershire police, at a hearing on Friday Leicester Crown Court, Paul Johnson was said to have benefited from his crimes by more than £2 million. Under POCA, he was ordered to pay back £1,840,000. Lia Johnson was said to have benefited by more than £143,000. She was ordered to pay back £135,000. Bitcoins belonging to the couple will also be sold to recoup the money.

Paul Wenlock, the head of the force’s economic crime unit, said that the courts agreed that the crimes committed by Paul Johnson meant the couple had both benefited financially. The court has made the confiscation order, and if the order is not satisfied, then potentially, Paul Johnson will serve a further ten years in default, and Lia Johnson will serve two years in default.

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