A businessman has claimed he was unknowingly filmed while entering his bitcoin passwords by his wife, who then allegedly entered his accounts and stole £180m worth of the cryptocurrency.
High Court documents show Ping Fai Yuen accused his now estranged wife Fun Yung Li of stealing the currency while the pair were discussing divorce.
He alleges Ms Yuen set up CCTV in his house and secretly recorded him as he sat and hid the password in their family home in August 2023.
After being alerted to the fact she was allegedly trying to steal the currency by his daughter, Mr Yuen erected audio recording equipment which picked up Ms Yuen “discussing CCTV which has been set up in the house”.
He is now suing his estranged wife and her sister for the bitcoin, which has fluctuated in value between £160m and £180m during the course of the case, according to court documents.
He claims the recordings show beyond reasonable doubt that it was Ms Yuen who “obtained the seed phrase and exfiltrated the bitcoin”.
According to the court documents, in August 2023 the cryptocurrency was stored in an address on the “blockchain” protected by a private key. This key was kept in a “cold wallet”, meaning it was not connected to the internet, on a physical device referred to as the “Trezor”.
The Trezor was also protected by a six-digit PIN. However, any person with access to the Mr Yuen’s “seed phrase” (a randomly generated set of 24 words) could use it to recreate the wallet on a separate device.
When Mr Yuen first discovered the currency was missing he confronted Ms Yuen and assaulted her. In September 2024 he was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two offences of common assault.
He reported the missing cryptocurrency to the police, who arrested Ms Yuen in December 2023. Officers searched the house and seized a number of watches, ten cold wallets and five recovery seeds. She was released on bail, and police later confirmed they would take no further action pending new evidence.
Mr Yuen claims his recordings capture his estranged wife in the house discussing the bitcoin. In one, she allegedly said: “The Bitcoin has transferred to me but can it be seen that you have taken it?”, while in another she has discussions about buying things using the virtual cash in Hong Kong, where she is from.
Mr Yuen claims his wife has transferred his cryptocurrency to 71 other blockchain addresses.
In an affadavit, Ms Yuen told the court she was “unaware of any information required to be provided in response to the matters… ”.
Mr Justice Cotter said Mr Yuen has a “very high probability of success”, and called the audio recording transcripts of Ms Yuen “damning”.
“She has had numerous opportunities to give her side of the story but has declined to do so,” he added.
Mr Yuen is seeking the return of the bitcoin or the equivalent value and a worldwide freezing order over the crypto assets of his Ms Yuen and his sister-in-law.
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/man-wife-stolen-bitcoin-court-b2939719.html