WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee man is accused of stealing millions of dollars in cryptocurrency and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from his ex-girlfriend, the widow of country music legend George Jones. An attorney for Nancy Jones confirmed to NewsNation local affiliate WKRN that she’s the alleged victim.
Kirk West, 58, was taken into custody at Nashville International Airport on Thursday, July 24, less than 24 hours after the Franklin Police Department started its investigation.
According to an affidavit, Nancy Jones filed a theft report on July 23, saying West stole approximately $400,000 in cash and a Ledger cryptocurrency wallet from two safes inside her home in Franklin around June 26.
Per the court document, Nancy Jones called her granddaughter on June 26 and asked her to secure her jewelry and cash from the safe after she suspected West, her “long-time romantic partner,” was cheating on her.
The granddaughter discovered the $400,000 in cash was missing from the safe, along with the Ledger wallet, which contained approximately 5,534,307 units of the digital currency XRP, based on the affidavit. Since each token was reportedly valued at approximately $2.10 on the date of the theft, that was $11,622,044.70 worth of crypto at the time. The total value of that stolen crypto has increased to $17,045,665.56 as of Friday, July 25.
Police said West was the only person besides Nancy Jones who had the private key, essentially a PIN code, to access the wallet. With the help of attorneys, Nancy Jones was able to recover approximately 5,051,102 XRP but still lost out on 483,205 XRP. As of publication, the lost cryptocurrency is worth nearly $1.5 million.
According to court documents, Nancy Jones said she kicked West out of the home on June 28. Jones says West told her he would send $5 million of the crypto funds back to her bank account, reportedly saying that was all she would get.
Authorities said West was charged with theft over $250,000. His bond was set at $1 million ahead of his Oct. 23 court date.
WKRN obtained a copy of a restraining order against West and the accompanying affidavit, which said Nancy Jones was married to George Jones from 1983 until he died from hypoxic respiratory failure on April 26, 2013. He was 81.
Nancy Jones met West in August 2013, when he toured a home she had for sale. Jones says West represented himself as an interested buyer/investor. Per the court documents, Nancy Jones later learned this was West’s “modus operandi” to meet “wealthy, potentially vulnerable women.”
Jones says West began texting her, offering her companionship and guidance in light of her husband’s death. Through their interactions, the country music star’s widow reportedly learned West was not interested in buying her residence. He was effectively penniless and didn’t have his own home, according to court documents.
In light of their friendship, Nancy Jones allowed West to move into a separate, upstairs wing of her residence in September 2013 before they began a romantic relationship in October 2013.
According to the court documents, “Given [West’s] insolvency, [Nancy] Jones entirely funded their life together, paying for everything from the pairs’ living expenses to vacations to a new Mercedes-Benz for [West] to drive.”
Per the affidavit, West was previously charged with bank fraud in July 2016, accused of misrepresenting himself as a “real estate investor” to seek loans from Reliant Bank “for the financing of real estate purchases” and “to refinance real estate loans.” In addition, West allegedly inflated his income and net worth and forged proof-of-income documents he later submitted to Reliant Bank.
Nancy Jones reportedly hired representation for West and paid his legal fees over the course of the federal criminal proceedings. In September 2016, he pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and admitted to executing a “scheme and artifice to defraud Reliant Bank,” by and through “false and fraudulent misrepresentations,” in order to obtain money in the custody and control of Reliant Bank, the complaint says.
Court documents state that West agreed to pay $935,045.04 in restitution to Reliant Bank and an additional $787,663.68 in restitution to the federal district court as part of his plea deal. He also agreed to three years of supervised release and a year of house arrest, according to the documents.
According to the affidavit, West convinced Nancy Jones to pay his restitution obligation, saying he would pay her back over time, but he has yet to do so. Then, while on house arrest at Nancy Jones’ home, West allegedly became a crypto “expert” and persuaded the country music star’s widow to invest in multiple cryptocurrencies, including XLM, DOGE, XRP, SHIB, and Ethereum.
West reportedly helped open the George Jones Museum in 2015 before it was sold along with George Jones’ name, image and likeness to a Nashville-based investment group. While the museum weathered a 2020 Christmas Day bombing with minimal damage, it ultimately closed in December 2021.