PÁGINA 1
POLITIET
KRIPOS
National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS)
Advocate Eduardo Mauricio
Forwarded via email
Your reference:
Our reference: 16389436
Place, date: Oslo, 26.11.2024
Concerning case no. 16389436 – freezing of USDT
We refer to your repeated inquiries regarding the following two crypto addresses:
- 0x4FaC0f6a28Ddce3b5EC81a08499Fb75A3fB421d1
- 0xFF2Ec1F1a809A600165C3f4f7D0CAD756fd20Df4
In the following, we base ourselves on the assumption that you represent the owners of both addresses, and we regret that it has taken time to be able to give you a detailed answer due to the ongoing investigation.
Norwegian police contacted Tether to have the balance on the two addresses frozen. The freeze was implemented on 10 April 2024.
The basis for the freeze was a transfer on 26 March 2024 of USDT 495,000 from the address 0xbCD58de3a to the address 0x4FaCB421d1.
In the police’s opinion, the funds are proceeds of a criminal act which can be traced directly to an offence that is under investigation by the NCIS.
The reason why it was decided to freeze both addresses was a transfer on 6 April 2024 of USDT 1,500,000 from the address 0x4FaCB421d1 to the address 0xFF2Ed20Df4.
The reason why there were sufficient funds in the address 0x4FaCB421d1 to make the transfer was the above-mentioned transfer of USDT 495,000 to the address 0x4FaCB421d1. A part of this amount of USDT 495,000 must necessarily have been included in the transfer of USDT 1,500,000 from the address 0x4FaCB421d1 to the address 0xFF2Ed20Df4, as the balance on the address 0x4FaC****B421d1 was less than USDT 495,000 after the transfer of USDT 1,500,000.
PÁGINA 2
The NCIS has been informed by Tether that it is not possible to freeze only a part of the balance on an address. Therefore, the balances of both addresses had to be frozen to secure the proceeds of USDT 495,000 which can be traced to the ongoing investigation on Norway.
It follows from the above that the Norwegian police are only interested in securing assets corresponding to USDT 495,000.
If the freeze is lifted on both addresses, the Norwegian police will lose their security as the police do not control the private encryption keys necessary to manage the funds held on the addresses. Tether has informed us that they also do not have such control.
According to Tether, the only way to withdraw the funds from the addresses without lifting the freeze, is a so-called “burn and reissue” process. This is a process whereby Tether burns the two addresses and issues new USDTs which the Norwegian police can seize. For this service, Tether demands 20% of the balance. The current balance is USDT 2,203,364. 20% of this is USDT 440,672.8.
In the prosecuting authority’s opinion, the conditions have been met for carrying out a burn and reissue process in order to secure the assets that can be linked to the investigation in Norway, i.e. that the Norwegian police seize the balance on the two addresses. This can be done by the Norwegian prosecuting authority sending a seizure order to Tether, who then burn the addresses and issue new USDT, which are transferred to the Norwegian police.
The Norwegian police are, however, only interested in the amount of USDT 495,000 and believe that it should be possible to solve this without going through the said burn and reissue process.
Under the Norwegian Criminal Procedure Act section 209, seizures can be lifted if security is provided for the amount to be seized,
i.e. the freeze of the two addresses can be lifted if security for payment of assets worth USDT 495,000 is provided to the Norwegian police.
For the prosecuting authority to accept such security, it must be provided in the form of a bank guarantee from a bank in Norway.
If sufficient security is provided, the prosecuting authority will lift the freeze of both addresses and release the funds.
PÁGINA 3
Summary:
The funds in the two addresses can be released if:
- Security for payment of USDT 495,000 is provided
- The security must be in the form of a bank guarantee from a bank in Norway
Please inform us if this is an acceptable solution which your clients can proceed with.
Best regards,
Håvar Undeland
Police Prosecutor
[Signature]
[Stamp: KRIPOS – Financial Investigation Department]
