Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have revealed that have seized 3 non fungible tokens (NFTs) during an investigation into a fraud case worth £1.4m.
According to CNBC, the bust is thought to be the first seizure of NFTs ever by a UK law enforcement agency.
The NFTs were seized during an investigation into a suspected VAT fraud case. Three suspects have been duly arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud the taxman by trying to claim back more VAT than what they were owed, using a mix of unregistered phones, false invoices and stolen identities to hide their identities.
The authorities seized three NFTs representing digital art, as well an another £5,000 in crypto assets. The NFTs are yet to be appraised and the probe is ongoing.
HMRC deputy director of economic crime Nick Sharp said, “Our first seizure of a Non-Fungible Token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use cryptoassets to hide money from HMRC. We constantly adapt to new technology to ensure we keep pace with how criminals and evaders look to conceal their assets.”
The US Department of Justice recently undertook a seizure of $3.6bn in cryptocurrency in what was described as its largest-ever financial seizure.
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