A hacker who stole two unreleased songs from Ed Sheeran and sold them on the dark web has been ordered to pay more than £100,000. Adrian Kwiatkowski, 23, from Ipswich, admitted 19 charges including copyright infringement and possessing criminal property, and was jailed for 18 months last year.
Kwiatkowski traded the music by Sheeran along with 12 songs by rapper Lil Uzi Vert in exchange for cryptocurrency. He managed to access the performers' digital accounts after hacking them, the Crown Prosecution Service said. When his Apple Mac laptop was searched, 565 audio files including the songs were uncovered.
At Ipswich Crown Court, a confiscation order was granted against Kwiatkowski, requiring him to pay £101,053 within three months. The amount comprises £51,975 from a bank account and 2.64 Bitcoin worth £49,528 – the first confiscation order of cryptocurrency secured by the Police Intellectual Crime Unit (PIPCU).
If he fails to pay, he faces an additional 18 months in prison. Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt from PIPCU said: 'Kwiatkowski executed a complex scheme to sell creative content that he did not own. Our work doesn't just stop at conviction, and this result means that Kwiatkowski will not be able to benefit any further from the money he earned through criminal activity.'
