(payouts from his mining operation came from the same wallet pirate deposits were made to)
Seems like a good way to launder money to me, lease Bitcoin miners, pay them with tainted coins and keep the newly mined coins.
I think there is definitely some useful information to be found, but it's going to be a lot of work, I mean, he must've cashed out somewhere and maybe the exchange may have some very useful information for us, and if he didn't, then the BTC must be hiding somewhere.