British prosecutors have secured a civil recovery order against Joseph James O’Connor, the man convicted in the 2020 Twitter hack that compromised the accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and other public figures.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Monday that 42 Bitcoin and additional crypto assets worth £4.1 million ($5.4 million) linked to the scam will be seized and liquidated.
O’Connor, 26, pleaded guilty in the United States to multiple charges including computer intrusion and extortion, and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2023. Although not convicted in the U.K., prosecutors said they moved to ensure he did not profit from the crime.
The 2020 attack saw hackers use hijacked Twitter accounts to solicit cryptocurrency and threaten celebrities, prompting the platform—now known as X—to temporarily restrict verified accounts.
