The post Appeals Court Rejects Prisoner’s Lawsuit Over Alleged $354M Bitcoin Loss appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. In brief Judges ruled Prime’s delay and conflicting statements barred his claim under the doctrine of laches. Prime had told officials he owned little crypto before later asserting he held 3,443 Bitcoin. The hard drive was destroyed after authorities found no trace of digital assets during their search. A federal appeals court has rejected a Florida man’s attempt to recover more than $354 million worth of Bitcoin he claimed was lost when authorities destroyed a hard drive seized during his 2019 arrest for counterfeiting and identity theft. In a ruling published Tuesday, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision denying Michael Prime’s motion for the return of property, saying he waited too long to make his claim and that the delay left the government unable to return the destroyed hard drive. “For years, Prime denied that he had much Bitcoin at all. And Bitcoin was not on the list when he sought to recover missing assets after his release from prison,” circuit judges wrote in the appeal. It was “only later” that Prime claimed “to be a Bitcoin tycoon,” they added.  The court said Prime had repeatedly told investigators, probation officers, and a sentencing judge that he owned little or no crypto, contradicting later claims that he held “close to 3,443 bitcoin.” Federal agents, relying on his early statements, ended their search for Bitcoin and later destroyed the seized devices, including the orange hard drive at the center of the case. Prime, who was sentenced in 2020 to more than five years in prison for access-device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and illegal firearm possession, claimed after his release that the hard drive contained the cryptographic keys to his lost Bitcoin. He filed a motion under Rule 41(g), which lets defendants seek the return of seized property after a… The post Appeals Court Rejects Prisoner’s Lawsuit Over Alleged $354M Bitcoin Loss appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. In brief Judges ruled Prime’s delay and conflicting statements barred his claim under the doctrine of laches. Prime had told officials he owned little crypto before later asserting he held 3,443 Bitcoin. The hard drive was destroyed after authorities found no trace of digital assets during their search. A federal appeals court has rejected a Florida man’s attempt to recover more than $354 million worth of Bitcoin he claimed was lost when authorities destroyed a hard drive seized during his 2019 arrest for counterfeiting and identity theft. In a ruling published Tuesday, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision denying Michael Prime’s motion for the return of property, saying he waited too long to make his claim and that the delay left the government unable to return the destroyed hard drive. “For years, Prime denied that he had much Bitcoin at all. And Bitcoin was not on the list when he sought to recover missing assets after his release from prison,” circuit judges wrote in the appeal. It was “only later” that Prime claimed “to be a Bitcoin tycoon,” they added.  The court said Prime had repeatedly told investigators, probation officers, and a sentencing judge that he owned little or no crypto, contradicting later claims that he held “close to 3,443 bitcoin.” Federal agents, relying on his early statements, ended their search for Bitcoin and later destroyed the seized devices, including the orange hard drive at the center of the case. Prime, who was sentenced in 2020 to more than five years in prison for access-device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and illegal firearm possession, claimed after his release that the hard drive contained the cryptographic keys to his lost Bitcoin. He filed a motion under Rule 41(g), which lets defendants seek the return of seized property after a…