Three Individuals Arrested in the US for Stealing $10 Million in Crypto
Date: 2023-11-20 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: IN WORLD
Sophisticated Bank Fraud Scheme Uncovered
The FBI has arrested Zhung Shi Gao, Naifen Xue, and Fei Jian on allegations of defrauding nearly ten banks in New York City between 2018 and 2022. The criminal scheme unfolded in a multi-step process:
The fraudsters transferred funds among their accounts, claiming all transactions were unauthorized.
Temporarily, the banks credited the wrongdoers, effectively doubling the initial sum of funds.
The criminals then converted the received money into digital assets and transferred it to foreign cryptocurrency exchanges.
The cumulative damage amounted to almost $10 million. In the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the perpetrators faced four criminal charges. The maximum imprisonment term could be close to 100 years, as stated by law enforcement.
"These charges should serve as a warning to fraudsters and cybercriminals who believe they can use cryptocurrency to conceal their identities—alongside our partner agencies, we will find and hold you accountable for your crimes," remarked Damian Williams, the US Attorney.
US Authorities Seize $54 Million in Cryptocurrency
Previously, the prosecution in the United States filed a lawsuit to confiscate $54 million in cryptocurrency from a leader of a drug trafficking group in New Jersey. According to the investigation, Christopher Castelluccio and his associates laundered proceeds from drug sales for five years. All the funds were stored in crypto wallets.
The accused group began selling prohibited substances for bitcoins (BTC) as far back as 2013. Subsequently, Castelluccio converted the acquired funds into Ethereum (ETH) and later received an additional 30,000 ETC due to a network hard fork. Authorities now seek to seize all digital assets involved.
