Britain’s tax watchdog has seized three NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in what is considered to be the first seizure of NFTs by a U.K. law enforcement agency.
Officials at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs say they seized the NFTs during an investigation into a suspected value-added tax (VAT) fraud case worth £1.4 million ($1.9 million). Three suspects have been arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud the taxman.
The suspects were accused of trying to claim back more VAT — a type of sales tax — than what they were owed by relying on a mix of stolen identities, false invoices, and unregistered phones to cover their tracks. The scheme involved 250 alleged fake companies, according to HMRC.
“Our first seizure of a Non-Fungible Token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use crypto assets to hide money from HMRC,” Nick Sharp, HMRC’s deputy director of economic crime, said in a statement Monday.
“We constantly adapt to new technology to ensure we keep pace with how criminals and evaders look to conceal their assets,” Sharp added.
