A French tax agent known as Galia C. is facing accusations of improperly accessing and selling confidential information from the French tax authority’s internal database. This data was reportedly exploited by criminals and is linked to at least one violent incident involving a correctional officer and his wife, which originated from a dispute over a smuggled mobile phone in prison.
In addition to her involvement with the tax authority, Galia holds significant amounts of digital currency. It’s becoming increasingly common for thieves to use physical force to coerce individuals into transferring cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin. While hacking and internet theft are familiar methods of crime in this space, these physical attacks are gaining traction.
The tax official recently lost an appeal and will stay in custody until a hearing at France’s Court of Appeal. She acknowledged sharing information but insisted she was unaware of the intentions of the buyers. “I provided information about this person. I did not know anything about what was done, and I want to apologize to the couple who were attacked,” she stated in a translated version of French media reports.
Prosecutors claim she abused her position by assisting repeat offenders, emphasizing her refusal to unlock her phone or disclose the name of her sponsor. Galia allegedly provided sensitive details about a health inspector, a judge, and billionaire Vincent Bolloré, in addition to information on cryptocurrency users and prison guards who had faced home invasions.
Statistics suggest that physical thefts of virtual currencies are set to surge in 2025, with a substantial number occurring in France. For instance, David Balland, a co-founder of a crypto hardware firm, was kidnapped and held for ransom concerning his cryptocurrency holdings. There are disturbing cases where kidnappers have gone so far as to sever a victim’s finger as part of ransom demands before police intervened.
These threats aren’t isolated to France. An unsettling incident occurred in San Francisco last year when an assailant, posing as a delivery driver, invaded a home in broad daylight, brandished a firearm, and forced the resident to transfer $11 million in cryptocurrency.
According to blockchain firm Chainalysis, transactions linked to illegal activities hit $154 billion in 2025, underscoring the significant role cryptocurrencies play in illicit financial transactions. Galia was said to have facilitated her payments through traditional channels like bank deposits and Western Union.
Although there’s no direct evidence connecting Galia’s data sales to individual crypto theft cases in France from last year, her story highlights the troubling intersection of data privacy and the irreversible nature of digital payments. The ongoing tension between cryptocurrency security and personal data vulnerabilities has been made more apparent following a recent data breach at a payment processor used by Ledger.
While encryption technology allows for effective self-management of finances, sensitive data remains at risk in centralized systems. There’s been little progress toward more decentralized infrastructures. Advocates for Bitcoin and data privacy have raised concerns about the risks posed by governmental and institutional processing of personal information. Unfortunately, it seems that issues of data mishandling may persist until there’s a significant paradigm shift toward individual control over personal information, rather than relying on centralized systems managed by governments and corporations.
