Scottish prosecutors have seized and converted 23.5 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $144,017 (109,601 British pounds), from a 2020 robbery near Glasgow.

The incident marks the first instance in Scotland where stolen cryptocurrency has been traced and recovered under proceeds of crime legislation, BBC News reported on September 2.

The robbery, which took place in the town of Blantyre, involved three men who forcibly entered a home armed with a machete and an unusual weapon—a personalized Toblerone chocolate bar.

### Victim Transferred Bitcoin At Knifepoint

The attackers targeted a male victim, who was forced at knifepoint to transfer Bitcoin from his digital wallet.

One of the assailants also assaulted a woman on the property, repeatedly hitting her with the Toblerone bar before making a threatening gesture and fleeing the scene.

The stolen cryptocurrency was eventually traced to John Ross Rennie, who was convicted in November of possessing the Bitcoin.

Rennie was identified as the “technical brains” behind the operation, responsible for guiding the transfer of the stolen funds.

Despite Rennie’s claims that he was coerced by a relative into depositing the Bitcoin into an exchange account, the Edinburgh High Court found his role pivotal to the crime.

As a result, Rennie was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work and placed under a six-month supervision order.

Detective Inspector Craig Potter from Police Scotland’s Cyber Investigations unit said the case “was the first robbery in Scotland to involve tracing stolen cryptocurrency.”

The successful conversion of the seized Bitcoin into cash, approved by the court on September 3, underscores the growing importance of digital asset recovery in modern law enforcement.

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