“Kiwi” Pirate Loses Millions of Hard-Earned Crypto

• A New Zealand pirate who operated a US-based site with his brother was obliged to forfeit the money he made.
• The authorities seized millions in crypto and bank funds and believe that’s all there was to pluck.
• Even though the man tried to keep a low profile, using legitimate payment services didn’t serve him well.

Jaron David McIvor, a software programmer from New Zealand, has had $14.9 million worth of cryptocurrencies seized by the country’s authorities, following a relevant order issued by the High Court. The man was placed under investigation back in 2016 when the New Zealand police received a tip from the US IRS about the operation of a pirate website.

McIvor caught the American tax officers’ attention because he was engaging in international money transfers between the USA, New Zealand, Canada, and Vietnam. Eventually, in 2019, he was arrested in his home, at the third time the police visited to investigate.

The man was careful not to raise suspicions with his lifestyle, and when the police first visited him, they saw no Lambos parked in the garage or anything denoting wealth. Instead, McIvor was living in a modest rental, giving no indication that he was holding more than $14.9 million in cryptocurrencies and another $581k in the bank. However, the ongoing investigation eventually produced evidence of the seemingly inexplicable existence of these amounts, and the man had to admit it and eventually cooperate with the authorities.

The website set up by J. D. McIvor and his brother operated in the United States and received subscription payments via wire transfers, Stripe, and PayPal. His brother’s bank account held another $275k - and he also forfeited $1.25 million in crypto. The court and the investigators have not named the pirate website yet, even though there’s no apparent reason to hide it from the public.

As for whether the authorities managed to find and seize the entire amount made by the pirate platform, the judge wrote that they believe the overwhelming majority was forfeited. The judge characteristically stated sanctification with the outcome within the purposes of the Criminal Proceeds Act 2009 and the overall interests of justice.

Although a computer software programmer, McIvor has failed to recognize the risk of using PayPal and Stripe, two legitimate payment processors that are open to sharing information with national authorities if they need to. Also, keeping over half a million USD in a bank account linked with your real name was not a smart move at all.