Romanian authorities conducted an operation that led to the arrest of a person for his alleged involvement in a theft of cryptocurrencies. The investigation revealed that the anonymous trading platform was based in the Cayman Islands.
More than $620,000 stolen in cyber attack
According to prosecutors at the Romanian Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism, the following events took place in Romania between 28 and 31 December In January 2021, a massive cyber-attack took place during a cryptographic exchange.
Although there are no significant details about the company, authorities have ranked it as the 7th largest cryptocurrency operator in the world. An unknown man is suspected of being involved in a cryptocurrency theft of more than $620,000.
According to an official press release, prosecutors have charged him with wire fraud, money laundering and hacking. The results also show that the suspected hacker gained access to sensitive API codes, which eventually allowed him to gain access to the entire exchange system.
Preservation for 30 days
According to reports, the man transferred the stolen cryptocurrencies to multiple wallets to make it difficult to trace the transactions. To circumvent verification procedures, one person made withdrawals for less than 10,000 lei ($2,430).
Yet the man wanted to make a profit because the people behind the exchanges paid him a salary, prosecutors said.
The Romanian authorities have provided Iași with additional details on the operation:
DIICOT – The Iași Oblast Prosecutor’s Office, together with officials from the Iași BCCO Criminal Investigation Department, conducted two searches, seizing seven mobile phones, three laptops, five memory cards and two electronic wallets worth 10 800 lei (USD 2 630). An amount of 40 000 lei ($9 750) was also recovered from the account of a bitcoin exchanger.
The defendant is facing 30 days of pre-trial detention, as the Iași District Court has jurisdiction to conduct the trial in this case.
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