In brief
- The alleged thief of more than $11 million in XRP has countersued Nancy Jones, the widow of country music icon George Jones.
- Kirk West alleges he is entitled to a portion of the funds after making shrewd investments into crypto and other assets.
- West is also seeking half of the pair’s cash and precious metals holdings.
The alleged thief behind a heist of more than $11 million in XRP from the widow of country music icon George Jones has filed a countersuit against Nancy Jones.
Kirk West, a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, was arrested last year for the alleged theft of $400,000 in cash and more than 5.5 million XRP tokens—valued at greater than $11.6 million at today’s prices—from Nancy Jones. West’s suit alleges that he was entitled to a portion of the funds and is a victim of fraud and defamation, according to Rolling Stone.
The pair connected in the months following George Jones’ death in 2013 when West claimed he was interested in purchasing the Jones’ home, according to court documents initially reported on by Nashville’s WKRN.
Shortly thereafter, Nancy Jones and West became romantically involved, and in 2016—while under house arrest for two counts of criminal bank fraud—West became a self-proclaimed “crypto expert.”
West reportedly persuaded the widowed Jones to create significant positions in XRP, Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Stellar (XLM). An affidavit attached to a restraining order also alleges that West stole SHIB and ETH positions from Jones.
In 2020, West allegedly purchased additional tokens—like Terra (which collapsed in 2022), Flare (FLR), Monero (XMR), and Songbird (SGB)—on Jones’ behalf via Crypto.com and Uphold.
After kicking West out of her home last year due to a suspected affair, Jones then discovered that a Ledger hardware wallet which protected the keys to her crypto holdings was missing from her safe. With the help of attorneys, she was able to recover just over 5 million of the XRP tokens, but more than 483,000 XRP—now valued at more than $1 million—remained unrecovered.
While Jones claims that West stole the crypto from her, West is now denying the claim, alleging he “made numerous wise investments over the course of the parties’ relationship which built substantial wealth for them,” and is now entitled to a portion of the assets. Those assets additionally include $5 million in gold and silver and $1 million in cash, according to Rolling Stone.
West’s Friday countersuit filing was the first record update for the case since private subpoenas were filed in October, according to the Williamson County online court records system. The 58-year old is seeking half of the crypto, cash, and precious metals from the time he left Jones’ home last year.
Decrypt reached out to the law office for West’s attorney Dana McLendon Law, but did not immediately receive a response.
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