Businessman, Ping Fai Yuen, 44, claims his estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, secretly installed CCTV cameras to spy on him and capture his cryptocurrency passwords, allowing her to steal 2,323 Bitcoin now valued at between £160 million and £180 million, approximately $172 million, according to High Court reports from THE TIMES.
Yuen alleges that Li, originally from China and now living in Hong Kong, set up the hidden surveillance system in their exclusive neighborhood residence to film where he kept his security details.
The cryptocurrency was stored on a Trezor hardware cold wallet, protected by a six-digit PIN and a 24-word seed phrase recovery key kept offline.
The alleged theft came to light in July 2023 when Yuen's eldest daughter raised suspicions about the unusual activity.
Yuen then installed his own audio recording equipment in the home, claiming the recordings prove Fun obtained the seed phrase and transferred the Bitcoin.
One captured exchange reportedly included Fun asking, "The bitcoin has transferred to me but can it be seen that you have taken it?"
Another discussion involved her mentioning the risk of police referral for possible money laundering offenses due to the massive sums involved.
Yuen further alleges that his wife moved the funds to 71 separate blockchain accounts, possibly with assistance from her sister, Lai.
When Yuen confronted his wife in August 2023, he was arrested and later pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault.
He then reported the alleged Bitcoin theft to authorities, leading to his wife's arrest in December 2023.
Police searched the property and discovered ten cold wallets, five recovery seeds, and various watches, but have taken no further action pending additional evidence.
In an affidavit, she stated she was "unaware of any information required to be provided in response" to questions about the cryptocurrency transfer.
During recent High Court hearings in the case, Mr Justice Cotter remarked on Yuen's strong position.
"The evidence is that he was warned of what [his wife] was seeking to do, the transcripts are damning and when the [wife's] property was searched the necessary equipment to exfiltrate the bitcoin was found."
He added, "She has had numerous opportunities to give her side of the story but has declined to do so. He demonstrated a very high probability of success" in his claim.
Yuen is seeking the return of the Bitcoin or its equivalent value, plus a freezing order on any related cryptocurrency assets held by Li and her sister.
The court has allowed the core case to proceed to full trial after striking out certain claims related to conversion and trespass to goods, ruling those torts do not apply to intangible digital assets like Bitcoin.
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