Fed Charge NYC Man For Hacking Crypto Exchange
Shakeeb Ahmed, 34, was detained in New York on Tuesday and charged with money laundering and wire fraud, each of which carry a possible 20-year jail sentence.
According to the Southern District of New York’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ahmed discovered a flaw in a foreign cryptocurrency exchange’s Solana blockchain smart contract that allowed him to inject false pricing information and create around $9 million in inflated fees that he didn’t deserve.
He allegedly withdrew the fees after that and concealed their origin by laundering them through “a series of complex transfers on the blockchain” and other fraudulent operations, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Additionally, Ahmed is charged with having “communications” with the cryptocurrency exchange and making an offer to restore all except $1.5 million in exchange for the firm agreeing not to report the theft.
According to the DOJ, several web searches, such as “can I cross border with cryptocurrency,” “how to stop federal government from seizing assets,” and “buying citizenship,” were conducted after the attack.
(With inputs from Shikha Singh)
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