A former UK National Crime Agency (NCA) officer has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for stealing 50 Bitcoin, now valued at around $5.9 million, from a major criminal investigation into the Silk Road 2.0 dark web marketplace.

Paul Chowles, once considered a top cybercrime expert, admitted to theft, transferring criminal property, and concealing stolen funds. He was part of the NCA team that investigated the infamous Silk Road 2.0, a successor to the original Silk Road that was shut down by the FBI in 2014.

Chowles was responsible for extracting data from devices belonging to Silk Road 2.0 co-founder Thomas White. After White's arrest, 97 BTC were seized from his wallet. But in 2017, 50 BTC mysteriously disappeared. Chowles transferred the funds to another wallet and used the crypto mixing service Bitcoin Fog in an attempt to hide the theft.

The trail eventually led back to him through forensic blockchain analysis tools provided by Chainalysis. Authorities discovered that Chowles had used crypto-enabled debit cards and converted part of the stolen Bitcoin to cash. He spent at least £109,000, and investigators estimate he financially benefited by over £613,000 ($821,000).

Ironically, the NCA initially suspected White of the theft — until he alerted police that the keys to his wallet were only accessible by the agency. A follow-up investigation exposed Chowles, with notebooks in his office containing usernames, passwords, and crypto account details linked to White.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it will now pursue asset confiscation from Chowles. His conviction underscores growing concerns around insider threats and corruption even within elite cybercrime units.