Fuzhou Procuratorate in China has filed a public prosecution against the case of illegal profit from Bitcoin theft, with the defendant sentenced to twelve years and seven months in prison.

BlockBeats message, May 23—Recently, the Cangshan District People’s Procuratorate in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, brought a public prosecution against a case involving the theft of Bitcoin and illegal profit-making. In the case, Wang found Lin at the end of 2020, entrusted him to cash out the Bitcoin he held, and agreed to pay a certain reward after the matter was accomplished; however, it ultimately turned into a carefully planned “theft by one’s own guardian.” Lin gained access to Wang’s Bitcoin wallet hard drive and laptop, and, unable to resist the temptation of high returns, greed for “appropriating it for himself” quietly took root in Lin’s mind. Holding the mindset of “virtual assets are hard to track, and even if they are stolen, they may not be discovered,” Lin stole the “private key” and related data from Wang’s Bitcoin wallet, transferred 4 Bitcoins to his own name, and after pulling it off, illegally profited about 900,000 yuan.

The Cangshan District prosecutor stated that although virtual currency does not have the same legal status as legal tender, and financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions are not allowed to provide services such as account opening, fund transfers, and clearing and settlement for activities related to virtual currency, Bitcoin has manageability, transferability, and value, which meet the general characteristics of property under the Criminal Law. It is an object of property-related crimes, and related acts of infringement will not escape criminal accountability due to Bitcoin’s illegal-tender attributes. The Cangshan District People’s Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against the defendant Lin for theft in accordance with law; after trial, the Cangshan Court sentenced him to 12 years and 7 months in prison and imposed a fine of 300,000 yuan. Lin was dissatisfied and appealed; the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court ruled to dismiss the appeal and uphold the original judgment.