Courts in China, UK and Morocco hand prison sentences to crypto thieves in single week

Within days of each other, courts in China, the UK and Morocco handed down significant sentences to criminals involved in physical crypto crime. 

While efforts are ongoing to make the cryptocurrency industry more secure online, law enforcement officials globally are also cracking down on physical crypto crime known as wrench attacks.

Does China punish crypto theft? 

A court in Fuzhou, China, sentenced a man identified as Lin to 12 years and seven months in prison for stealing four Bitcoins from an acquaintance who had hired him to liquidate the holdings.

The theft occurred in late 2020 when a man identified as Wang asked Lin to help convert his Bitcoin to cash. After Lin was given access to Wang’s hardware wallet and laptop, he copied the private keys, transferred all four coins to his own wallet, and sold them for approximately 900,000 yuan, around $124,000 at the time.

Wang discovered the theft in 2024 and Lin was arrested shortly after.

The Cangshan District Court convicted Lin of theft and imposed a 300,000-yuan fine on top of the prison term. Lin’s appeal to that sentence has now been rejected by the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court, and the ruling upheld.

The fact that China does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender did not shield Lin from prosecution, because under Chinese criminal law, as something that can be possessed, transferred, and has measurable value, Bitcoin qualifies as property.

How common are physical crypto attacks in Europe?  

Cryptopolitan previously reported that France alone recorded at least 19 wrench attacks in 2025, with six more in early 2026. The use of cold storages protects against remote hacking, but offers no defense against someone who gains physical access to a seed phrase, whether through stealth, burglary, or violence.

In a recent case, a 36-year-old City worker in Hertfordshire was literally attacked with a wrench before more than £10,000 was drained from his bank and cryptocurrency accounts. Four men received prison sentences at St Albans Crown Court in relation to the crime.

The men befriended the victim during a night out in Shoreditch, then forced him back to his home, where they beat him with a wrench and knocked him unconscious. They used facial verification to unlock his accounts while he was incapacitated and left him for his partner to find the next morning with serious facial injuries.

The police only began their investigation after Coinbase flagged unusual activity on the victim’s account.

Jason Kareem, 23, received the longest sentence at six years and six months, which includes an 18-month consecutive term for breaching prior suspended sentences. Jerome Denton, 39, was sentenced to six years. Brandon Stephenson, 25, received five years and six months. Royan Campbell, 20, got three years and six months. 

A fifth defendant, Rayshon Keena, 20, was convicted of money laundering and given a two-year community order with 150 days of unpaid work and a £500 compensation payment.

Cryptopolitan previously reported about the sentencing of 25-year-old Mohamed Hamid Bajou in Morocco. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for orchestrating a string of kidnappings targeting wealthy crypto holders in France.

One of Bajou’s most prominent alleged victims was David Balland, co-founder of hardware wallet maker Ledger, who was abducted from his home in central France in January 2025 alongside his partner. The attackers demanded 10 million euros and severed one of Balland’s fingers before French police intervened.

Bajou denied being involved with the kidnappings at trial and claimed to have been living on his grandfather’s farm in Morocco. However, investigators were able to link him directly to the kidnapping operations with seized messages.

The Court of Appeal in Tangier, Morocco, ordered Bajou to pay 1 million Moroccan dirhams (roughly $110,000) to each identified victim.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.