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DOJ: $25 million in crypto allegedly stolen by 2 brothers in 12 seconds
“This alleged scheme was new and has never been charged before,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday. File photo by John Angelillo/UPI
May 15 (UPI) — The Justice Department revealed Wednesday that it has charged two brothers in their 20s with a series of alleged crimes for manipulating the cryptocurrency market to steal $25 million in crypto in 12 seconds, according to reports .
Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, Massachusetts, and his brother James Peraire-Bueno, 28, of New York were arrested Monday in their respective cities and are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. commit money laundering,
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“This alleged scheme was new and has never been charged before,” Damien Williamsthe United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news release.
The Peraire-Bueno brothers will be presented Wednesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Paul Levenson for the District of Massachusetts and before U.S. District Judge Valerie Figueredo for the Southern District of New York.
If convicted, the brothers individually face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each count.
“As alleged in today’s indictment, the Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme that they plotted for months and executed in seconds,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a press release.
The Justice Department says the Peraire-Bueno brothers “meticulously” planned their “exploit” over several months. THE the indictment says their alleged crimes began as early as December 2022 and continued until this month with a series of executed financial transactions.
Monaco said Internal Revenue Service agents were instrumental in uncovering the “first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme” allegedly committed by the brothers.
Williams says their alleged crimes “call into question the very integrity of blockchain.”
According to the Justice Department, the brothers had studied computer science and mathematics “at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.” The Internet connects one of them to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The feds allege that the two “used their specialized skills and education to tamper with and manipulate the protocols relied on by millions of Ethereum users around the world.” And once they put their plan into action, their heist took just 12 seconds. “
Among other things, the DOJ says it took the time to learn the business behaviors of victimized traders whose cryptocurrency they allegedly stole, and “took numerous steps” to conceal their identities and “lay the groundwork to conceal the proceeds stolen”, which the government declared. arguments included the creation of shell companies and the use of multiple private cryptocurrency addresses and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges.
The indictment sought the seizure of a series of JP Morgan Chase and Choice Bank accounts under their names as well as other personal property. The federal government says the two men executed a series of financial translations intended to conceal not only their identities, but also the true ownership of the stolen funds.
But investigators had discovered that both brothers had a digital search history consistent with the alleged crimes they committed, including U.S. lawyers and extradition policies.