Chocolate Bar Crypto Theft Ends with an Arrest and Community Service

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The chocolate bar crypto theft (totaling 23.5 $BTC) from 2020 came to a close as Scottish authorities tracked the stolen digital assets.

The prosecutors found the stolen 23.5 $BTC with John Ross Rennie, the ‘brains’ behind the operation, and sentenced him to 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Let’s see how the authorities unraveled the case and why a Toblerone chocolate bar was also involved.

Machetes and a Toblerone Chocolate Bar Lead to $BTC Theft

In 2020, three men invaded a home in Blantyre, southeastern Glasgow. They threatened one occupant with a machete and another with a ‘weaponized’ Toblerone chocolate bar.

They coerced one of the victims to transfer the Bitcoin.

Yesterday, Scottish authorities tracked down one of the people involved in the attack – Jorn Rossie Rennie. While he hadn’t physically assaulted the victims, he had offered remote guidance on how to transfer the crypto.

Rennie was sentenced to 150 hours of community work, while the police seized 23.5 $BTC and converted it to £109,601 (according to what $BTC was worth at the time of the attack).

As for the Toblerone attack, the BBC reported on it, mentioning one of the home invaders attacked a woman with the chocolate bar and used it to make a death threat.

Pattern of Crypto Home Invasions Starts to Unravel

The Toblerone crypto theft isn’t the only home invasion gunning for crypto assets. In July 2023, several horrific home invasions plagued the US with the same goal.

Led by Remy Ra St. Felix, the gang threatened, attacked, tortured, or kidnapped 11 people to steal their crypto assets, making off with $150K in $BTC and $ETH.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that crypto growth not only leads to industry advancement and DeFi adoption but also scams and crypto-targeted attacks.

As many call for increased regulatory oversight to address digital crypto scams, physical attacks like Remy’s and Rennie’s are growing.

Our Takeaways – The Rise of Gunpoint Crypto Thefts Could Be Nigh

It’s clear that the chocolate bar crypto theft isn’t the only one of its kind. More are happening worldwide, with Remy’s assaults being just one example.

With a market cap of over $2.06T, the global crypto market is attracting not just investors and institutional attention but also thieves, robbers, and scammers galore.

Will Rennie’s crypto theft be the last we see? That’s unlikely.

References

• Courts seize £110,000 of crypto cash in Scots legal first (BBC)
• Inside a Violent Gang’s Ruthless Crypto-Stealing Home Invasion Spree (Wired)