Online Piracy: $4.3 Million In Crypto Seized From New Zealand Resident

A man that is suspected of online piracy has recently had around $4.3 million in cryptocurrency on his accounts – now seized by the authorities in New Zealand. As the police reports show, there was a seize of another $700,000 in bank funds, too.

Speaking of, the funds were restrained by the Criminal Proceeds Recovery act. This is by far the largest seizure of cryptocurrency ever in New Zealand and this is easily a case that may be the biggest in our Bitcoin scams news.

According to a report by the local news outlet NZ Herald, the local police seized around $5 million in cryptocurrency and bank deposits from the resident named Jaron David McIvor who was suspected for online piracy. This seizure follows a US investigation into his alleged involvement in an online piracy website.

The international payments processing firm PayPal even flagged a series of transactions as suspicious to the IRS – and the agency linked these with McIvor and reported the findings to the New Zealand Asset Recovery Unit.

Through his illegal streaming website, McIvor generated around $1.28 million – and the online piracy case was synchronized with bank accounts where he received money from wire transfers, PayPal and Stripe.

The head of the Waikato Asset Recovery Unit, Keith Kay, noted that as per the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act, if there is a “reasonable grounds” that an individual “profited” from “significant criminal activity,” then his assets could be frozen.

“Introducing illicitly-obtained funds into New Zealand constitutes money laundering and police will thoroughly investigate and restrain the assets of those who undertake such activity,” Kay commented.

The Detective Senior also commented the online piracy case and noted that other individuals behind the website were also under investigation. He even mentioned suspects in the US, Canada and Vietnam.

This is a big topic in the cryptocurrency news – but not a seizure which is the first of its kind in New Zealand. McIvor’s lawyer defends his client by saying that he denies allegations of money laundering. However, the reality is that the threshold for him to be found guilty is much lower than it would be in a criminal case.