Tennessee man arrested for stealing $11 million in crypto

A Tennessee man has been arrested for robbing his partner and stealing about $400,000 in cash and more than $11 million in cryptocurrency. According to reports from WKRN, his partner was Nancy Jones, the widow of the great American country singer and songwriter George Jones.

Reports said the suspect, 58-year-old Kirk West of Franklin, was arrested at Nashville International Airport on July 24, a day after authorities officially launched their investigation. Authorities claimed that West was trying to walk off with the stolen cash and about $11 million in cryptocurrency.

Criminal steals $11 million in crypto

Court documents show that Nancy filed a police report on July 23, where she reported the theft of her cash and digital assets. According to her report, West had jacked the two safes inside her Franklin home around June 26, stealing the cash and her Ledger crypto wallet. Nancy claimed that the Ledger wallet contained more than 5.5 million units of XRP, with the digital asset worth around $2.10 per unit at the time it was stolen.

The value of the digital assets was around $11 million, but by the time West was apprehended by authorities, it had jumped to $17 million. While her legal team was able to recover around 5 million XRP units, nearly half of the tokens are still missing, with the whole amount presently worth around $1.5 million.

According to reports, Nancy had met West in 2013 after the death of her husband, George Jones. In the affidavit that was filed at the court, Nancy claimed that West had claimed to be a potential buyer for one of her properties, but she soon figured out it was just a ploy to meet wealthy and potentially vulnerable women. Not long after their first contact, West had moved into her house, first sharing the first floor, and soon the pair began a love affair.

They began a romantic relationship, and Nancy was charged with funding all their activities, ranging from daily expenses to a new Mercedes-Benz. Court documents also showed that West did not have a house, job, or even money to his name before he met Nancy, but had enough charm to stick around and convince her to enter into a relationship with him and foot all his bills.

West to appear in court on October 23

This is not the first time West has been apprehended by the authorities. He pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud back in 2016, after he conned Reliant Bank by faking financial documents to facilitate real estate loans. Nancy was said to have paid for his legal defense and covered more than half of the $800,000 restitution bill he owed. While still under house arrest for that conviction, West started taking a crash course in crypto.

He urged Nancy to invest in digital assets like XRP, Ethereum, SHIB, and DOGE. He told her he was a crypto expert, and Nancy, putting all her trust in him, went along with it. It remains unclear how much she invested, but the loss of $1.5 million worth of XRP remains the only asset she just can’t recover. Nancy claimed that after she suspected that West was cheating on her, she called her granddaughter to help her secure the safes in her room on June 26, and that was when she discovered the money and the wallet were gone.

West was kicked out of the house two days after the incident, but not before reportedly telling Nancy she would only get $5 million from the entire funds. His bond has been set at $1 million, and he faces charges of theft. The court is scheduled to convene on October 23, and if convicted, West is looking at a long sentence. Nancy is yet to make a public statement, but her attorney has confirmed that she was the victim in this case.