In the latest development regarding Iceland’s “Big Bitcoin Heist”, the accused mastermind has said that he was eligible to travel freely when he escaped from a low-security prison and boarded a flight to Sweden last week.

An accusation has been made against Sindri Thor Stefansson for allegedly being the mastermind behind the theft which took place between December 2017 and January 2018 in which 600 bitcoin mining computers- hardware worth roughly $2 million were stolen. Last week, on Tuesday 17th April, Stefansson caused quite the stir as managed to escape a low-security prison and boarded a flight to Sweden, what made this news all the more significant was that the Prime Minister of Iceland was also reportedly in the same plane.

However, now the local newspaper Frettabladid has published a letter allegedly written by Stefansson himself in which he claims, that he was held in prison for several months without any evidence linking him to the theft.

Furthermore, he argued that the order of detention against him had expired on April 16, and when the police tried to obtain a warrant for extending his custody by another 10 days, a judge postponed that decision for a later date. Stefansson also claims that he was legally free to travel anywhere he wished.

A translation of Stefansson’s statement states, “I have no intentions of staying in prison willingly, specifically given that I have been threatened by the police of being arrested without an explanation,” the translation further reads,”I have been detained and kept in custody for almost two and a half months, simply based on police suspicion without any actual evidence against me. That is the reason I am infuriated with it, all the more not a single testimony of mine has been published, I was constantly threatened with longer isolation whilst I was isolated.”

Stefansson’s current whereabouts are not known by anyone, although police are suspicious that he is currently in Spain, as per reported by the local newspaper Frettabladid. All the more, the stolen mining machines have still not been found and a reward worth $60,000 for evidence leading to their recovery is still in motion.

Stefansson said he wishes to return to Iceland, given that he has officially been declared as a free man at the time of his escape.

Stefansson’s statement reads, ” I have contacted the police in Iceland and began negotiating on a deal, by which I can return home without being arrested abroad.”