Drug Dealer Loses $58M in Bitcoin after Landlord Bins His Codes

There is something of a cliché that ‘crime doesn’t pay’. While you can debate the merits of a statement like that, one thing is usually pretty clear. It’s unusual for criminals to actually invest their ill-gotten gains.

It seems, however, that this is exactly what Clifton Collins did. As a drug dealer in Ireland, he has reportedly invested a small portion of his earnings into Bitcoin back when it was worth around $5-$6 a coin. With it now being worth between $9,000-$10,000, it is estimated that his investment had since grown to around $58m. Notice how I used the past tense there?…

Drug Dealer Loses $58m in Bitcoin

So, what went wrong? Well, firstly he got caught dealing drugs and was sent to prison. Before this, however, Mr. Collin’s decided that it was a good idea to ‘diversify’ his funds into 12 separate accounts.

Now, as you may be aware, cryptocurrency wallets often require very complex passwords to access and, with him in prison (and arrested unexpectedly), he clearly didn’t have time to make sure they were kept somewhere safe.

One person who did have access to them, however, was his landlord. A person who, in a report via CNET, after hearing about Mr. Collin’s ‘holiday’, decided to throw out all of his possessions.

Yes, including the sheet of A4 paper which contained all of the cryptocurrency account details. Doh!

What Happens Now?

Well, the truth of the matter is that even if these codes had been discovered before they were disposed of, Mr. Collin’s still likely would’ve never received the money. You know… since he earned it through illegal means I daresay that the Irish government would’ve been the only people ‘cashing’ it in.

It does, however, represent yet another case of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin likely currently being ‘held’ in a tip somewhere. Apparently inside a fishing tackle box if you wanted to go have a look for it yourself.

So, does crime pay? Well, perhaps, but keeping the money is clearly a lot trickier than earning it!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!