A Plano resident has gotten back $20,000 in stolen cryptocurrency after detectives in the Plano Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit followed the digital money across international borders, the department said in a news release reported Thursday by FOX 4.
Detectives traced the assets through what the department described as a complex chain of transactions, then seized part of the stolen funds and returned it to the victim. Police did not say how much was taken in total.
According to the release, the case is the first cryptocurrency seizure completed by a municipal law enforcement agency in Collin County without help from a federal agency. Police called successful recoveries of digital funds rare.
"Cryptocurrency crimes are designed to move money quickly and make it difficult to follow," Det. A. Jones said in the release, as reported by FOX 4. "This case demonstrates that persistence, technical skill, and strong investigative work can put victims' money back in their hands."
The department has not disclosed who stole the money or whether anyone faces criminal charges, and it did not describe how the theft happened.
