A UK man has told the High Court of Justice that his estranged wife used a hidden camera to steal more than 2,323 Bitcoin from his Trezor hardware wallet — moving the funds into 71 different addresses, according to a court judgment.
What the court papers say
- Plaintiff Ping Fai Yuen alleges that his wife, Fun Yung Li, together with her sister, secretly filmed him using surveillance equipment to capture his seed phrase and wallet access codes. Seed phrases are the backup keys that can restore access to hardware wallets such as Trezor.
- After being tipped off by his daughter that something was wrong, Ping says he installed audio recording devices that allegedly captured conversations about the theft and plans to move the crypto.
- Court documents state the 71 recipient addresses have been dormant since Dec. 21, 2023.
Police action and civil claims
- Ping reported the matter to police; authorities arrested his wife and seized several cold (hardware) wallets and luxury watches during the investigation.
- Last year Ping applied to the court to freeze all crypto assets linked to his wife, to recognize his ownership of the Bitcoin, and to order either the return of the coins or their equivalent value in fiat currency. He also raised concerns about a potential “dusting” tactic — where tiny amounts of crypto are sent to wallets to trace activity and identify high-value holders.
Judge’s view and next steps
- The presiding judge said Ping has a strong chance of success, noting the defendant has offered “no alternative (or any) explanation for the movement of the Bitcoin.” The judge described the audio transcripts as “damning” and highlighted that the search of the defendant’s property uncovered equipment needed to extract the coins.
- Citing the security risks and price volatility of Bitcoin, the judge recommended an early trial and said the court would set a case management hearing if the parties cannot agree on next steps.
Broader context
This case underscores two persistent risks in crypto custody: human compromise of seed phrases and sophisticated social-engineering tactics. Hardware wallets protect against remote hacks, but a disclosed seed phrase — whether captured on camera, recorded, or shared — effectively hands control of funds to whoever has it.
As previously reported, large-scale crypto thefts continue to make headlines: last month authorities in Saint Martin arrested John Daghita, accused of stealing more than $46 million in cryptocurrency from wallets tied to the U.S. Marshals Service while acting as a contractor.
The UK case will proceed through civil channels with policing involvement; the court’s next procedural steps are expected if the parties cannot reach agreement.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
