Thailand Watchdog Aims To Seize Bitcoin Gained from Criminal Activities
The Anti-money laundering unit in Thailand plans to confiscate Bitcoin acquired through undertaking criminal activities. Cyber criminals have for a long time evaded having their assets frozen or seized due to the anonymous nature of blockchain transactions.
The Thailand Anti Money Laundering Unit (AML) through its chief Witthaya Neetitham stated that it was going to create its own digital wallet in order to fight any crime relating to Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrencies. The chief spoke during a workshop in Thailand that had met to discuss ways to curb cybercrime.
Confiscation Of Illegal Assets
As we speak the regulations in Thailand only detain the individual committing crime and seize his physical assets but don’t touch his virtual assets. For example, some criminal last year was arrested for engaging in child pornography but his Bitcoins were not touched although they were believed to be ill gotten from his dirty business.
There has been speculation that crypto related crime would rise in Thailand as well as the whole of the Asian region. Therefore such a move by Thailand AML couldn’t have come at a better time. The agency states that it will open a digital wallet to hold all the crypto confiscated from illegal activities.
Not A Walk In The Park
There’s no denying that carrying out these measures will not come without the toughest of challenges. Some of the constraints that will be faced by the agency include lack of adequate human resource, red tape from international bodies as well as lack of proper communication channels between agencies.
These measures come at a time when fraudsters are crafting new ways each day of defrauding people. Just recently, a Finnish woman was duped 5564 Bitcoins by fraudsters in Thailand who promised to make investments on her behalf. Such a staggering amount is hard to trace. Crypto related cases are some of the toughest to deal with due to the anonymity associated with blockchain. Hopefully AML will get the necessary support to deal with cases of cybercrime.
