The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is indicting two Russian nationals for their alleged involvement in the infamous hack of the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox.
In a new press release, the DOJ says it is indicting two Russian citizens — Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29 — on alleged conspiracy to launder hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin (BTC) shipped from Mt. Gox.
In addition, Bilyuchenko is also charged with conspiracy to operate BTC-e, a crypto exchange allegedly linked to money laundering and the Mt. Gox hack, from 2011 to 2017 together with the founder Alexander Vinnik.
As stated by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York in the press release,
“As cybercriminals have become more sophisticated in their theft methods, our prosecutors and law enforcement partners have also become experts in the latest technologies being misused for malicious purposes.
As alleged, Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner thought they could outsmart the law by using sophisticated hacks to steal and launder massive amounts of cryptocurrency, a new technology at the time, but the unsealed indictments show that we are in be able to doggedly prosecute these alleged criminals, no matter how complex their plans, until they are brought to justice.”
The court documents show that from September 2011 to about May 2014, Bilyuchenko, Verner, and their co-conspirators gained unauthorized access to the server containing Mt.’s wallets. Gox, the largest BTC exchange in the world at the time, reportedly transferred 647,000 BTC from the platform to wallets managed by them.
With BTC trading for $26,542 at the time of writing, that totals around $17.17 billion worth to the crypto king.
In an attempt to launder the stolen BTC, the defendants allegedly entered into a fraudulent advertising contract, according to the press release.
“Under the guise of the advertising contract, to get the Mt. Gox to conceal and liquidate stolen Bitcoins, Bilyuchenko and Verner reportedly made regular requests to the owner and operator of the New York Bitcoin Broker to make large wire transfers to various offshore banks. accounts, including shell company names, controlled by Bilyuchenko, Verner and their co-conspirators.
If Bilyuchenko and Verner are convicted, they could face decades behind bars.
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