UK crypto investor convicted of drug dealing

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The Royal Court of the British city of Swansea accused a local resident of hiding income from the cocaine trade in two crypto wallets.

After lasting almost a yearinvestigation The Royal Court found 36-year-old Fraser Cuberhives guilty. According to the prosecution, as a result of criminal activities, the Briton received more than 380,000 pounds sterling (almost $500,000). The suspect then converted the funds received into bitcoins under the guise of an independent investment in crypto assets. The prosecution believes that in this way Cuberhives tried to hide about 18 military vehicles from law enforcement agencies.

Cubehives' defense lawyer sent the courtprotest, stating that the amount of claims against the client and the estimate of the amount of financial proceeds from the sale of prohibited substances do not correspond to reality. The court agreed with the defense's arguments and ordered an additional investigation. The final verdict is scheduled for May.

This is not the first time that a British court is considering a case of drug trafficking and concealment of criminal proceeds using crypto assets. In 2022, the court sentenced
to nine years in prison for UK resident Simon Barclay, from whom $6.7 million in cryptocurrencies and $1.4 million in drugs were seized.

In March, former Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt
attention of members of the European Parliament tothe connection between cryptocurrencies and drugs and called on the EU authorities to take emergency measures to protect national financial systems in the form of an immediate ban on cryptocurrencies.