Security News > 2023 > June > Two Russian Nationals Charged for Masterminding Mt. Gox Crypto Exchange Hack

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Russian nationals in connection with masterminding the 2014 digital heist of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox.

According to unsealed indictments released last week, Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29, have been accused of conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins stolen from September 2011 through at least May 2014 as a result of unauthorized access to a server holding crypto wallets used by Mt. Gox customers.

"Armed with the ill-gotten gains from Mt. Gox, Bilyuchenko allegedly went on to help set up the notorious BTC-e virtual currency exchange, which laundered funds for cyber criminals worldwide."

The BTC-e exchange, opened by Bilyuchenko in 2011 in collaboration with Alexander Vinnik and others using the plundered crypto from Mt. Gox, was shut down by law enforcement in 2017, prior to which it was one of the main conduits through which cyber criminals cashed out the proceeds of their illegal activities.

Mt. Gox, which was the largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time, officially collapsed soon after the theft and filed for bankruptcy in February 2014.

Mark Karpelès, the exchange's CEO, was considered a prime suspect and was arrested in Japan in August 2015 and charged with fraud and embezzlement.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2023/06/two-russian-nationals-charged-for.html