Czech police have arrested Tomas Jirikovsky, founder of the dark web marketplace Sheep Marketplace, on suspicion of bribing former Justice Minister Pavel Blazek with 468 BTC (worth $45 million at the time) to avoid a prison sentence. The case directly led to Blazek's resignation in May of this year.

According to local media outlet Deník N, Jirikovsky attempted to escape via the rooftop during the police raid but failed. The Czech programmer was sentenced to nine years in 2017 for embezzlement, drug dealing, and weapons trafficking, and was released on parole in 2021 for good behavior. Investigations revealed that he had profited at least 1,500 BTC from operating a darknet market.

Furthermore, according to Arkham monitoring, the funds involved may have come from a wallet belonging to Nucleus, another dark web market. Experts pointed out that this case once again demonstrates the strong traceability of Bitcoin on-chain transactions. (Cointelegraph)