British Court Okays Lawsuit by Man Who Says His Ex-Wife Stole $172 Million in Bitcoin

A broken marriage and missing Bitcoin are the ingredients in a test case for how English civil courts will deal with cryptocurrency theft.A man claims his estranged wife stole more than $172 million in Bitcoin from him by installing a hidden camera to capture the password he used to access his digital wallet.The United Kingdom’s High Court of Justice says a suit filed by Ping Fai Yuen against that woman — Fun Yung Li — can move forward, but the scope of the case needs to be limited due to current law.Mr. Yuen owned 2,323 bitcoins but they were suddenly transferred out his digital “wallet” in 2023 and moved to 71 different accounts through a number of transactions. There has been no movement of the digital currency since then.Mr. Yunen claims his estranged wife obtained his password and “stole” the Bitcoin by using a hidden camera to obtain the password he used to access his account. Mr. Yunen says his eldest daughter warned him that his wife was trying to take the Bitcoin so he installed audio recording equipment. Mr. Yunen claims that he captured audio of Ms. Li discussing a camera which had been set up in the area of the house where Mr. Yuen sat and kept his hidden password.In one recorded discussion, Ms. Li allegedly was questioned by another unnamed person about how she would account for the Bitcoin.“You claim that your money was Bitcoin, such large amount, so many questions, how are you going to explain about it?” the person asked. “Such large amount, even 10 banks which it’s not enough to put them into. You cannot explain how you obtain such large amount of money.”When Mr. Yunen discovered that his Bitcoin had been moved, he confronted his wife and assaulted her. He was arrested and spent weeks in custody before being released on bail and later divorcing Ms. Li.Mr. Yunen then reported the theft to police. Ms. Li was arrested after police found a number of Mr. Yunen’s valuable watches and a sizable amount of digital currency at her home. Police released her after an interview, saying there were no further steps they could take without more evidence.In November, Mr. Yunen requested that a court freeze Ms. Li’s assets and confirm that he owned the Bitcoin. After a hearing this month, Justice Barry Cotter issued a ruling saying Mr. Yumen had a “high probability of success” in the case and said it can move forward.Ms. Li was born in China and now lives at Hong Kong. She has refused to answer questions about the Bitcoin, but Justice Cotter said transcripts of the audio recordings were “damning” against her. Justice Cotter also noted that Ms. Li “has had numerous opportunities to give her side of the story but has declined to do so.”Justice Cotter also said the case needed a quick trial due to the volatility of Bitcoin’s price but noted there are problems with the way current law treats the theft of digital assets because they are not physical objects.

British Court Okays Lawsuit by Man Who Says His Ex-Wife Stole $172 Million in Bitcoin

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