Latest news with #ThomasWhite
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
'Greedy' National Crime Agency officer jailed after stealing £4.4 million in bitcoin from dark web drug dealer a 'first of its kind case', specialist prosecutor tells Mail podcast
A former National Crime Agency employee has 'destroyed his good life and career' after being jailed for stealing 50 Bitcoin from a dark web drug dealer, a prosecutor has told an exclusive Mail podcast. Paul Chowles, 42, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for stealing Bitcoin now worth £4.4 million from a drug dealer who was under investigation in 2017. Drug dealer Thomas White, who operated a dark web marketplace known as 'Silk Road 2.0' from his Liverpool home, alerted police to Chowles after telling investigators that proceeds from his criminal enterprise had gone missing. Chowles's theft went undetected for five years as he used his expertise in cybercrime to conceal his ill-gotten gains. Speaking to the Mail's Trial Plus podcast, specialist prosecutor Alex Johnson, who worked for the Crown Prosecution Service against Chowles, described why the case is truly 'a first of its kind.' Johnson said: 'When the Bitcoin was stolen in 2017, it was worth around £59,000. During the investigation, the value of Bitcoin exploded. 'The stolen Bitcoin would now be worth in excess of £4 million. An interesting aspect of the case was that Chowles was able to spend more money than he had stolen because the value of it went up during the time it was in his possession. 'Chowles was extremely calculated in the way he dealt with the stolen Bitcoin. He moved it into a system on the dark web called the Bitcoin fog. 'It was a way criminals could effectively wash dirty Bitcoin and send it back to themselves as clean Bitcoin. 'Merseyside police had to carry out an extremely diligent investigation to locate the Bitcoin, including hiring an expert to locate every transaction within the fog… this showed the Bitcoin being transferred into an account which could be linked unequivocally to Chowles.' Chowles was not only strategic in concealing the Bitcoin's transfer, but also careful in how he spent the stolen money. He avoided 'flashy' purchases, using his newfound wealth to buy groceries and home supplies. 'Chowles spent the money on fairly routine things', Johnson told the podcast. 'Working through his bank statements showed purchases at Asda, Sainsburys, Screw Fix and visits to local pubs and restaurants. 'He was careful – no holidays to the Bahamas or Ferraris or anything like that. Just day to day spending. 'Chowles used the stolen Bitcoin for more than 900 transactions and was able to carry out debit card and bank transfers of just under £80,000.' The specialist prosecutor emphasised that the lengthy prison sentence sends a strong message to potential Bitcoin criminals. 'At the end of the day, Chowles is a greedy and dishonest officer who decided he would breach public trust and steal something he should have been protecting', Johnson said. 'He's a family man. He lives with his partner… he really has destroyed what was a good career and a good life. 'I think for him to go to prison at this stage of his life must be real deterrent for anyboy else who might be looking at what's happened and considering doing the same thing.' Chowles was able to get hold of White's Bitcoin by accessing one of several USB drives containing the digital currency that had been seized from White's address. White operated online under the alias, 'Dread Pirate Roberts', a reference to the 1987 fantasy film The Princess Bride. In the film, the name Dread Pirate Roberts is passed down through generations of fearsome pirates, when their last leader retires. The USB drive containing the Bitcoin was titled 'Dread Pirate Roberts retirement fund', which led Johnson to make an amusing observation. 'Chowles considered this his retirement fund – and in doing so, became the new Dread Pirate Roberts!'
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Physicists Blast Gold to Astonishing Temperatures, Overturning 40 Years of Physics
Physicists superheated gold to 14 times its melting point, disproving a long-standing prediction about the temperature limits of solids Gold usually melts at 1,300 kelvins—a temperature hotter than fresh lava from a volcano. But scientists recently shot a nanometers-thick sample of gold with a laser and heated it to an astonishing 19,000 kelvins (33,740 degrees Fahrenheit)—all without melting the material. The feat was completely unexpected and has overturned 40 years of accepted physics about the temperature limits of solid materials, the researchers report in a paper published in the journal Nature. 'This was extremely surprising,' says study team member Thomas White of the University of Nevada, Reno. 'We were totally shocked when we saw how hot it actually got.' The measured temperature is well beyond gold's proposed 'entropy catastrophe' limit, the point at which the entropy, or disorder, in the material should force it to melt. Past that limit, theorists had predicted solid gold would have a higher entropy than liquid gold—a clear violation of the laws of thermodynamics. By measuring such a blistering temperature in a solid in the new study, the researchers disproved the prediction. They realized that their solid gold was able to become so superheated because it warmed incredibly quickly: their laser blasted the gold for just 45 femtoseconds, or 45 quadrillionths of a second—a 'flash heating' that was far too fast to allow the material time to expand and thus kept the entropy within the bounds of known physics. 'I would like to congratulate the authors on this interesting experiment,' says Sheng-Nian Luo, a physicist at Southwest Jiaotong University in China, who has studied superheating in solids and was not involved in the new research. 'However, melting under such ultrafast, ultrasmall, ultracomplex conditions could be overinterpreted.' The gold in the experiment was an ionized solid heated in a way that may have caused a high internal pressure, he says, so the results might not apply to normal solids under regular pressures. The researchers, however, doubt that ionization and pressure can account for their measurements. The extreme temperature of the gold 'cannot reasonably be explained by these effects alone,' White says. 'The scale of superheating observed suggests a genuinely new regime.' [Sign up for Today in Science, a free daily newsletter] To take the gold's temperature, the team used another laser—in this case, the world's most powerful x-ray laser, which is three kilometers (1.9 miles) long. The machine, the Linac Coherent Light Source at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, accelerates electrons to more than 99 percent the speed of light and then shoots them through undulating magnetic fields to create a very bright beam of one trillion (1012) x-ray photons. When this laser fired at the superheated sample, the x-ray photons scattered off atoms inside the material, allowing the researchers to measure the atoms' velocities to effectively take the gold's temperature. 'The biggest lasting contribution is going to be that we now have a method to really accurately measure these temperatures,' says study team member Bob Nagler, a staff scientist at SLAC. The researchers hope to use the technique on other types of 'warm dense matter,' such as materials meant to mimic the insides of stars and planets. Until now, they've had no good way to take the temperature of matter in such toasty states, which usually last just fractions of a second. After the gold trial, the team turned its laser thermometer on a piece of iron foil that had been heated with a laser shock wave to simulate conditions at the center of our planet. 'With this method, we can determine what the melting temperature is,' Nagler says. 'These questions are super important if you want to model the Earth.' The temperature technique should also be useful for predicting how materials used in fusion experiments will behave. The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for example, shoots lasers at a small target to rapidly heat and compress it to ignite thermonuclear fusion. Physicists can now determine the melting point for different targets—meaning the whole field could be heating up in the near future. Solve the daily Crossword
Scientific American
23-07-2025
- Science
- Scientific American
Superheated Gold Hits Temperatures Higher Than the Sun's Surface—Without Melting
Gold usually melts at 1,300 kelvins—a temperature hotter than fresh lava from a volcano. But scientists recently shot a nanometers-thick sample of gold with a laser and heated it to an astonishing 19,000 kelvins (33,740 degrees Fahrenheit)—all without melting the material. The feat was completely unexpected and has overturned 40 years of accepted physics about the temperature limits of solid materials, the researchers report in a paper published in the journal Nature. 'This was extremely surprising,' says study team member Thomas White of the University of Nevada, Reno. 'We were totally shocked when we saw how hot it actually got.' The measured temperature is well beyond gold's proposed 'entropy catastrophe' limit, the point at which the entropy, or disorder, in the material should force it to melt. Past that limit, theorists had predicted solid gold would have a higher entropy than liquid gold—a clear violation of the laws of thermodynamics. By measuring such a blistering temperature in a solid in the new study, the researchers disproved the prediction. They realized that their solid gold was able to become so superheated because it warmed incredibly quickly: their laser blasted the gold for just 45 femtoseconds, or 45 quadrillionths of a second—a 'flash heating' that was far too fast to allow the material time to expand and thus kept the entropy within the bounds of known physics. 'I would like to congratulate the authors on this interesting experiment,' says Sheng-Nian Luo, a physicist at Southwest Jiaotong University in China, who has studied superheating in solids and was not involved in the new research. 'However, melting under such ultrafast, ultrasmall, ultracomplex conditions could be overinterpreted.' The gold in the experiment was an ionized solid heated in a way that may have caused a high internal pressure, he says, so the results might not apply to normal solids under regular pressures. The researchers, however, doubt that ionization and pressure can account for their measurements. The extreme temperature of the gold 'cannot reasonably be explained by these effects alone,' White says. 'The scale of superheating observed suggests a genuinely new regime.' On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Project Scientist Chandra Curry works at the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. To take the gold's temperature, the team used another laser—in this case, the world's most powerful x-ray laser, which is three kilometers (1.9 miles) long. The machine, the Linac Coherent Light Source at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, accelerates electrons to more than 99 percent the speed of light and then shoots them through undulating magnetic fields to create a very bright beam of one trillion (1012) x-ray photons. When this laser fired at the superheated sample, the x-ray photons scattered off atoms inside the material, allowing the researchers to measure the atoms' velocities to effectively take the gold's temperature. 'The biggest lasting contribution is going to be that we now have a method to really accurately measure these temperatures,' says study team member Bob Nagler, a staff scientist at SLAC. The researchers hope to use the technique on other types of 'warm dense matter,' such as materials meant to mimic the insides of stars and planets. Until now, they've had no good way to take the temperature of matter in such toasty states, which usually last just fractions of a second. After the gold trial, the team turned its laser thermometer on a piece of iron foil that had been heated with a laser shock wave to simulate conditions at the center of our planet. 'With this method, we can determine what the melting temperature is,' Nagler says. 'These questions are super important if you want to model the Earth.' The temperature technique should also be useful for predicting how materials used in fusion experiments will behave. The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for example, shoots lasers at a small target to rapidly heat and compress it to ignite thermonuclear fusion. Physicists can now determine the melting point for different targets—meaning the whole field could be heating up in the near future.
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ten more years of injustice: Figures lay bare scale of IPP scandal
It will take a decade to free 2,544 prisoners trapped on 'inhumane' indefinite jail terms, damning new figures suggest, as campaigners warn the government 'must go further and faster' to end the scandal. The number of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners being released for the first time has hit an all-time low, according to the Ministry of Justice data, with just 172 freed for the first time last year. At current rates, the overall population is decreasing by less than 10 per cent a year – despite some prisoners having served up to 22 times longer than their original sentence. This excludes a further 233 people on IPP sentences who are being held in secure hospitals after their mental health has deteriorated in prison. The figures, released on Thursday in an annual report, lay bare the toxic legacy of the open-ended jail terms as pressure mounts on the government to take up fresh proposals to help those languishing without a release date. The jail term – described as 'psychological torture' by the UN – was outlawed in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving those already jailed incarcerated indefinitely. Victims of the scandal, whose tragic cases have been highlighted by The Independent, include: Leroy Douglas, who has served almost 20 years for robbing a mobile phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself alight in his cell and has served 13 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery. At least 94 prisoners have taken their own lives in custody after losing hope of ever getting out. A further 37 self-inflicted deaths have taken place in the community under strict licence conditions which leave offenders in fear of being hauled back to prison indefinitely for minor breaches. Successive governments have refused justice committee recommendations to resentence IPP prisoners, claiming it will lead to dangerous prisoners being released without supervision. However an expert panel, convened by the Howard League for Penal Reform and former top judge Lord John Thomas, last month urged the government to end the injustice by giving prisoners a release date at their next review by the Parole Board within a two-year window. Other measures being considered by ministers include reducing numbers recalled to prison and providing a package of mental health support for IPP prisoners on release. The Howard League's director of campaigns, Andrew Neilson, said the data in the annual report 'underlines how much further and faster ministers will have to go to end a scandal that leaves thousands of people still in prison without an end date in sight'. "The government must provide hope for those still serving this unjust sentence, and the best way to do this would be to accept the carefully considered proposals put forward by the working group chaired by Lord Thomas,' he added. Campaigner Shirley Debono, who co-founded IPP Committee in Action, told The Independent: 'It's a travesty. This has been devastating for families. 'It's going to take a decade to clear the backlog of IPPs. In that time people are going to die and family members are going to die.' She claims the government's IPP Action Plan, designed to help support prisoners to progress towards release by the Parole Board, is only working to keep prisoners in jail for longer as her son Shaun Lloyd languishes in prison. Mr Lloyd, who was handed a two and a half year IPP sentence in 2005 after stealing a mobile phone, has served a total of 14 years after being recalled four times. He has been held for 17 months on his latest recall, despite facing no further police action, and told he must complete a five-month course before the Parole Board will consider him for release. The latest figures show prisoners serve a further 25 months on average before they are re-released, even if they are not convicted of a further offence. A spokesperson for The United Group for Reform of IPP (UNGRIPP) said the latest report shows the government's plan 'misses the mark in the urgency that is needed to put an end to this 20 year long injustice'. 'By sticking with this approach the government are committing themselves to a slow change scenario,' they added. 'UNGRIPP do not believe that this or any action plan can fix the IPP sentence, the only true way to fix it is through parliamentary policy and the politicians know this but are choosing to ignore it.' Last week former justice secretary Alex Chalk said the jail terms are 'overbearing' and 'unfair' as he urged his successor Shabana Mahmood to look carefully at the Howard League's proposals to end the historic wrong. Prisons minister James Timpson admitted there is more work to do to help IPP prisoners. "It is absolutely right that the IPP sentence was abolished,' he added. "As this report shows, we have significantly improved support for these offenders, with greater access to rehabilitation and mental health support. 'There is more work to do as we reduce the number of IPP offenders in custody, but will only do so in a way that protects the public.'
Daily Record
17-07-2025
- Daily Record
Uni dropout lived life of luxury before dark web crimes were uncovered
Thomas White operated a site worth millions before he was caught by the National Crime Agency. A university dropout profited from a dark web black market to live a life of luxury before a National Crime Agency officer investigating him stole cryptocurrency from him. Thomas White, 30, operated the Silk Road site, worth millions, under a pseudonym "Dread Pirate" before police raided his flat in Liverpool. Paul Chowles, 42, who was on the NCA team which stopped the former student's operations, took 50 Bitcoin from White - only worth £60,000 at the time, with the value since skyrocketing to over £4million. The former intelligence analyst initially believed he had "gotten away with" his theft for years, only spending his illegal earnings on everyday expenses rather than luxury items. His scheme was only exposed when White was released from prison and told police about the missing coins, resulting in the officer being jailed himself. The original Silk Road site was shut down by the FBI in 2013, but White set up Silk Road 2.0 just a month later, with transactions worth over £71million, the Liverpool ECHO reports. Despite having no legitimate income, the former accounting student, who had quit his course after a single term, could pay the £10,700 rent for his plush flat in the Mann Island development upfront, and buy high-spec computer equipment. Users could secretly buy and sell drugs via the site, but investigators tracked packages of drugs he had ordered and had delivered to a rented mailbox to ultimately bring him down. When NCA investigators searched his address, they also found a device containing hundreds of images showing children being abused. He was discovered to have told admins of the site he intended to use it as a secure platform for paedophiles "because there was money to be made from these people". Other devices also contained hacked data from high-profile organisations including the FBI, NASA, the database of the US Fraternal Order of the Police, and customer information from broadband provider TalkTalk. However, it is not thought that he was personally responsible for obtaining the data. Following his initial arrest in November 2014, coinciding with FBI raids concerning US-based operations, his case took years to reach sentencing. Having ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and making indecent images of children, he was ultimately jailed for five years and four months in April 2019. Ian Glover from the NCA said following the sentencing: "Thomas White and his online associates believed they could use the dark web to anonymously commit crimes with impunity. But this case shows that those who try to hide behind the apparent security of anonymising software will be identified and brought to justice. "White was a well-regarded member of the original Silk Road hierarchy. He used this to his advantage when the site was closed down. We believe he profited significantly from his crimes. Close working with American partners in the FBI, Homeland Security and the Department of Justice has resulted in the take down of global illegal drug empires and the targeting of associated money laundering, primarily involving cryptocurrencies. "This has been a complex, international investigation and follows previous investigations led by the NCA into dark web criminality. Working with our international partners, the UK is fast becoming an increasingly hostile environment for dark web crime." On Wednesday, July 16, Paul Chowles appeared in court. He was one of nine people on a digital forensics team which investigated White, and seized a USB stick containing 97 Bitcoin from White's flat during their operation, which was kept in their charge for over two years until May 2017. It was then that Chowles secretly transferred 50 Bitcoin into his own control, using a dark web "mixing service" allowing him to cover up the source of the funds before sending them to private accounts. The lead officer, described as "very technically minded and knowledgeable", spent around £140,000 of his proceeds in supermarkets, bars and restaurants, and on building work and nursery fees. Suspicions were raised in 2022 after White got out of prison. He had noticed during linked investigations in relation to the Proceeds of Crime Act that a quantity of Bitcoin was missing from his account. Part of the cryptocurrency was recovered from Chowles' personal computer, with more having been cashed in. He was arrested at work in May 2022, with notebooks found in his office drawers containing usernames and passwords for White's crypto accounts. He was ultimately sacked without notice from the force on Friday, July 11. Will Parkhill, defending, told the court Chowles was struggling with his mental health and undiagnosed autism. He said: "It is not a case where there is an obvious explanation. It is something that he struggles with. It is not something that I can elaborate on to provide a significant explanation for his behaviour. "Most of that Bitcoin has sat where it went and, over the course of a number of years, has been filtered into familial expenses. It is not a case of high living. It has simply been used to pay for things that they would ordinarily pay for. "It is not an offence where we can point to any significant life event, but he is someone who has strayed away from the way he lived his life up until that point. Now, he will deal with the consequences. It is a day he has known has been coming for some considerable period of time. The solicitor added that Chowles' marriage had broken up, and that his health and former profession would have a significant effect on any time spent in prison. He continued: "Mr Chowles is not a stupid man. It is likely that appreciation would not have been known to him at the time. It is incidental and unintended. While we have eyewatering figures at the upper end of the scale, we have further figures in relation to his usage of these funds. "He knew more than most. He did dishonest things with that. He did not do the right thing. He stuck with that for some time, but the figures that we are talking about were not of intentional design. "Mr Chowles has destroyed his life and had a serious impact on many other people's lives. We ask your honour to pass as low a sentence as you can in all of the circumstances." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Chowles admitted to theft, transferring criminal property and cocealing criminal property, receiving a sentence of five-and-a-half years in prison. Passing sentence, Judge David Aubrey KC said: "You were not only involved in that investigation, but you were the lead officer. You were involved in his arrest, and it was you who interviewed him. "You commenced employment with the National Crime Agency, an organisation which investigates those who are suspected of committing serious organised crime. You occupied a managerial position. It is trite to say that such a role requires, demands and expects trust, integrity and honesty. "You had much knowledge as to how to navigate through investigations concerned with digital data such as cryptocurrency. That was of great assistance to the agency in the fight against organised crime, provided that you did so with honesty and integrity and had the values of the agency in your DNA in the pursuit of justice. "Regrettably, you did not. Honesty should have been in your DNA, but it was not. Your knowledge was of great assistance to you as you set about stealing from your suspect. You weaved a sophisticated, intricate, dishonest web. The evidence shows that it was a dishonest web of deceit and guile." The judge added that Chowles had "abused his position of trust and responsibility", and "betrayed" the trust of his NCA colleagues and the general public. He said: "You were there to serve the public. You did not. You were serving yourself for your own ends, as is illustrated by that which you dishonestly did after you initially stole the 50 Bitcoin. The court accepts that it is most unlikely that you will see a court of law again." Chowles could now be ordered to repay the stolen funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act. A National Crime Agency spokesman said following the sentencing: "We understand and fully share the concern this case will cause the public we serve. "The former officer was sacked for gross misconduct. The NCA expects the highest standards of conduct and behaviour from all our officers, and we are committed to taking robust action against anyone who falls short of those standards, as we did in this case, resulting in an investigation fully supported by the agency's anti-corruption unit." Alex Johnson, specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime division, added: "Within the NCA, Paul Chowles was regarded as someone who was competent, technically minded and very aware of the dark web and cryptocurrencies. He took advantage of his position working on this investigation by lining his own pockets while devising a plan that he believed would ensure that suspicion would never fall upon him. "Once he had stolen the cryptocurrency, Paul Chowles sought to muddy the waters and cover his tracks by transferring the Bitcoin into mixing services to help hide the trail of money. He made a large amount of money through his criminality, and it is only right that he is punished for his corrupt actions. The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position in power for financial gain."
