AFP Seizes AU$9M After Seed Phrase Decoded

Australian Federal Police seized AU$9 million (about US$6 million) in cryptocurrency after an AFP data scientist decoded a deliberately manipulated 24‑word recovery phrase that had concealed the funds. Forensic analysts linked the stash to an alleged offender accused of selling a technology product to criminal networks; the suspect refused to hand over wallet keys, a refusal that can carry a penalty of up to 10 years in Australia. Investigators found an image containing number-and-word sequences split into six groups with more than 50 variations; the analyst removed the first digit from each group to reveal the seed phrase and access the wallet. Commissioner Krissy Barrett praised the analyst’s work as a scientific epiphany that prevented the suspect from leaving prison a multi‑millionaire. The same analyst previously helped recover more than AU$3 million, and if courts order forfeiture the seized crypto would be placed in a commonwealth account for distribution toward crime‑prevention.