Dutch FIU Seizes Cryptocurrency After Suspicious Transaction Report Exposes Attempt to Hide Assets

A Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) played a crucial role in helping the Dutch Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) seize cryptocurrency linked to a man whose father allegedly tried to conceal the assets from law enforcement. The FIU Netherlands revealed that it received a report from an unnamed "crypto service provider" regarding a request from a man seeking access to his son’s cryptocurrency wallet.

The request raised alarms when the father informed the crypto service provider that his son had been detained and that the login details for the wallet had been confiscated by investigators. This revelation prompted the crypto company to conduct further research using open sources.

According to a LinkedIn post by the FIU Netherlands, "They decided to do further research in open sources and found a news article in a local newspaper that referred to the arrest of a man for trafficking in narcotics via the dark web. The person in question had the same age and place of residence as their customer."

The findings led the crypto service provider to file a suspicious report with the FIU Netherlands. The FIU then suspected that the father was attempting to secure his son’s cryptocurrency to prevent law enforcement from seizing it. The FIU stated, "Coupled with the ongoing investigation into the customer, we suspected that the father was out to secure his son’s crypto as soon as possible so that law enforcement could not seize it."

Thanks to the swift action taken by the crypto service provider, the enforcement process was accelerated. The FIU Netherlands confirmed that the suspicion was accurate, saying, "The crypto service provider’s suspicion that the person in the newspaper article was their customer turned out to be justified."

The prompt report allowed officials to seize the assets of the suspect. The son, who was involved in trafficking cocaine, was subsequently sentenced to sixteen months in prison by the Arnhem court in the eastern Netherlands, with eight months of the sentence suspended.

By fLEXI tEAM