Wife Allegedly Steals Bitcoin Worth Rp 2.7 Trillion, Husband Reveals CCTV Method

A man in the UK has accused his wife of stealing cryptocurrency assets in the form of bitcoin worth approximately $158 million or around Rp 2.7 trillion. The man named Ping Fai Yuen claims that his wife, Fun Yung Li, gained access to his crypto wallet by exploiting footage from the home CCTV camera. According to court documents, Li, who is currently in the process of divorcing Yuen, is suspected of peeking at the recovery phrase from Yuen’s hardware wallet. He believes that Li accessed his wallet through the surveillance camera and then used that information to transfer funds without permission in August 2023. The cryptocurrency assets in question amount to 2,323 bitcoins. At the time of the alleged theft, their value was below $50 million or about Rp 850 billion. However, the amount has now increased to approximately $158 million or Rp 2.7 trillion, in line with the rise in bitcoin’s price, which is currently above $70,000. The funds were subsequently transferred through several transactions and are now scattered across 71 blockchain addresses not connected to any crypto exchange. Based on court records, the assets have not moved since 21 December 2023. Authorities once seized several hardware wallets and recovery phrases from Li’s home. However, no further action has been taken to date. Li’s side has requested that the lawsuit be dismissed because, according to her, bitcoin is a digital asset, not a physical object. Thus, Li considers Yuen’s lawsuit not categorisable under those rules. The judge agreed with Li’s argument. However, the court is still allowing the case to proceed on other legal bases that could potentially enable Yuen to recover his assets if the allegations are proven. The case will proceed to the trial stage, while the court awaits additional evidence, as compiled by KompasTekno from CoinDesk.