Crypto Seized: UK Orders Twitter Hacker Joseph O’Connor to Surrender £4.1M in Bitcoin
The global saga surrounding the 2020 Twitter breach has taken a new turn: British prosecutors have succeeded in stripping a key participant of the cryptocurrency he amassed through the large-scale scheme. A court has ordered 26-year-old Joseph James O’Connor to surrender assets equivalent to £4.1 million (~$5.4 million). This ruling grants the state access to 42 Bitcoin and other digital funds linked to the crime, all uncovered during a years-long investigation.
The chain of events began with an extraordinarily audacious attack in which the perpetrator seized control of accounts belonging to world leaders and prominent entrepreneurs, using them to deceive users into sending cryptocurrency and to intimidate high-profile individuals.
The ruling marks the culmination of parallel legal proceedings unfolding across multiple jurisdictions. O’Connor was arrested in Spain in 2021 and subsequently extradited to the United States, where most of the evidence and victims were located.
In 2023, a U.S. court found O’Connor guilty of unauthorized access, fraud, and extortion, sentencing him to five years in prison. British authorities continued to pursue the financial aspect of the case, securing a freeze on the cryptocurrency during his extradition and later obtaining a civil confiscation order.
The UK Prosecutor’s Office noted that even when a suspect is not convicted domestically, existing mechanisms still allow the government to seize assets tied to criminal activity. Officials emphasized that the breadth of available legal tools made it possible to recover a substantial amount of digital wealth and bring it back under state control. The assets will now be transferred to a court-appointed administrator for liquidation.
The July 2020 breach remains one of the most notorious incidents in the platform’s history. The attackers gained access to the accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Kim Kardashian, and other public figures. Once inside their profiles, they posted messages urging users to send cryptocurrency under the guise of a charitable initiative.
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