Photography: Andrei Metelev / Unsplash
Three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been seized by the UK Tax Agency, as part of an investigation of 250 fake companies allegedly carrying out tax fraud for £1.4 million (about $1.9 million).
As part of the investigation, department UK Revenue and Customs (HMRC for its English acronym), has arrested three people suspected of participating in a fraud related to this digital asset.
NFTs are unique pieces made of cryptographic technology based on what is called a blockchain. They can be compared to works of art to try to understand their uniqueness, although far from it, although their value will always be determined by their uniqueness.
For example, Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter, auctioned his first signed tweet for nearly $3 million. And what the buyer got was a digital file whose originality was encrypted in the blockchain and has a unique digital signature that cannot be forged yet.
The Human Resources Department, which indicated that this is the first time that it carried out an operation of this kind, revealed that the suspects used highly sophisticated methods to inflate the value of these assets and hide funds from the authorities, such as stealing identities and addresses. error, using prepaid phones, virtual private networks (VPN), fake documents and receipts, etc.
Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Financial Crimes, told the BBC that the operation, a first of its kind in the country, “would serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use crypto assets to hide money from HMRC. We are constantly adapting to new technologies to ensure we keep up with the way we are doing it.” Criminals and evaders seek to hide their origins.”
HMRC also stated that it has obtained a court order to seize confiscated crypto assets worth around £5,000 and three NFTs of digital artwork, which have not been valued, while it continues to investigate.
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