Saxon investigators sell confiscated Bitcoins for 2.64 billion Euro
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, this is a unique case in Germany on this scale. The money does not go to the Saxon state budget right away. Instead, it is being held until the end of the criminal proceedings against the movie2k.to piracy site.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has been investigating the alleged operators of the already shut down Internet portal since long ago due to commercial infringement of copyright and money laundering. A main suspect handed over to the investigators voluntarily nearly 50,000 Bitcoins, as the authorities announced in January.
The 40-year-old alleged operator was charged, along with a accomplice, at the Leipzig Regional Court. Together with other operators, they are suspected, according to the investigators, of investing illegal earnings from movie2k.to in cryptocurrency whose value had significantly increased due to market fluctuations. At the time of the confiscation by the suspect, his Bitcoins were worth only 1.96 billion Euros.
Market fluctuations played no role for the timing of the asset seizure according to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Dresden. This is not legally permissible. The Criminal Procedure Code alone applies. It prescribes the immediate sale of confiscated assets already before the conclusion of a procedure if potential losses of at least ten percent are imminent. Given the fluctuations in Bitcoins, this was the case.
"The fastest possible asset seizure forbids a law enforcement agency any currency speculation or waiting for rising market prices," the investigators in Dresden stated. The sale of Bitcoins was therefore carried out by a specialized bank in Frankfurt am Main over a period of three and a half weeks in small batches, with the Federal Criminal Police also involved.
The revenues were only made available to the state budget if the Leipzig Regional Court, in the context of a possible later judgment against the alleged operator, ordered the seizure of the assets and this decision was later legally binding. In Saxon politics, the prospect already caused interest on Tuesday.
The Links faction in the Landtag therefore demanded the use for investments in hospitals, schools and kindergartens. "Perhaps approximately ten percent of the annual budget flows into the state budget as a one-time addition," explained Fraktionschef Rico Gebhardt. This was "a great luck". The Landesregierung should not decide this alone, this is a matter for the Landtag.
Between 2008 and the shutdown in 2013, copies of films and TV series were illegally distributed through the streaming portal movie2k.to for years. It was previously the largest German piracy portal. The alleged operators behind it were not caught until years later, the main suspect in Leipzig was charged only in 2023. In this complex, there were already convictions of other operators according to the Public Prosecutor's Office.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office in Leipzig is overseeing a case involving the piracy site movie2k.to, which had over 64 million unique visitors and was operational from 2008 to 2013.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office in Dresden announced in January that a main suspect had handed over approximately 50,000 Bitcoin, worth over two billion Euros at the time, to investigators as part of their investigations.
- The suspect is accused of engaging in money laundering and commercial piracy, with the value of the confiscated Bitcoins increasing significantly due to market fluctuations.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office emphasized that the timing of the asset seizure was based on legal requirements, not market speculation or an attempt to wait for rising Bitcoin prices.
- The sale of the confiscated Bitcoins was carried out over a period of three and a half weeks by a specialized bank in Frankfurt am Main, with the involvement of the Federal Criminal Police.
- The revenues from the sale of the Bitcoins would only be made available to the Saxon state budget if the court orders the seizure of the assets and this decision is later legally binding.
- In light of the potential windfall, politicians in Saxony have suggested using the funds for public investments, such as hospitals and schools, with the decision on how to allocate the funds being a matter for the Landtag to decide.
