The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that 24,500 bitcoins, which were seized during a search of a property in December 2012, will soon go to auction after a 28 day appeal period has expired. At the current bitcoin price, the State of Victoria will pocket around AUD $9.6 million or USD 8.4 million. As is typical in Australia, the proceeds of crime are sold via what is known colloquially as a police auction. It's unknown what date the auction has been set for.
Richard Pollard, the IT worker turned silk road merchant, was today sentenced to 11 years jail after pleading guilty to a charge of commercial trafficking. Arrested in late 2012, Pollard trafficked 2.8kg of MDMA, 876 grams of ice, 44 grams of cocaine, 30 grams of ketamine, 61 cannabis plants as well as fentanyl, methorphan and other poisons.
According to court documents, police also found printed pages from the Silk Road which included the names and addresses for orders Pollard had taken via the site. A total of 24,518 BTC spread across three wallets were also confiscated.