The BTC seized under pressure were transferred to the Escrow Agency. More than 14 bitcoins got distributed among the protesters.

The police wanted the seed phrases to access Nicholas’s cryptocurrency wallets. Under pressure from the official, the victim got forced to hand over the private keys.

Nicholas St. Louis is one of the fundraiser organizers in bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies that sought to financially support the protesters of the “Freedom Convoy 2022” movement in Canada.

The police forced him to give them the seeds or seed phrase, the set of between 12 to 24 words that grant access to a cryptocurrency wallet created to receive support.

The same situation happened to the other organizers of the collection, who got arrested near St. Louis at the end of last February.

The Canadian government highlighted that they managed to seize and obstruct part of the bitcoins given to the protest, which managed to gather at least 22 BTC during the demonstrations between January and February. These protests took place in rejection of the obligation to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

The case ended up becoming a power struggle torn between two legal stances. Both jurisdictions would determine who should have power over the donations to get distributed among the protesters now immobilized through their digital currency wallets.

The civil suit arrives from citizens and entities impacted by the protests; on the other hand, there are accusations against the protesters and the collectors for committing a crime by disrupting the public order.

Bitcoin Confiscations

According to the affidavit, St. Louis arranged on March 9, police applied for a search warrant at his home. The officials took him to a car outside his place, and one of them spoke about accusing him of money laundering and other related illicit activities.

After extracting his electronic devices and other assets, they obliged him to give the private keys of his self-custodial wallet. He possessed just $15,000 housed in that wallet.

St. Louis explains that there is still a part of the restricted donations in other portfolios. This situation happened because after distributing some 14.6 bitcoins among the truckers, he received a court order that stopped him from distributing the funds.

An Unbelievable Order to Confiscate  Bitcoins

An Ontario Superior Court judge created the Mareva Order in late February. Its main goal is to prevent the distribution of millions of dollars collected for the Freedom Convoy.

The ruling prohibits the convoy leaders and their fundraisers from disposing of the funds received in donations, including digital assets such as bitcoin.

This situation tied up the private funds of the fundraiser’s organizers: Nicholas St. Louis, Tamara Lich, Christopher Garrah, Patrick King, and Benjamin Dichter, along with the nonprofit organization Freedom 2022 Human Rights and Freedoms.

By: Jenson Nuñez

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