- It’s Alexey Bilyuchenko and Alexander Werner
- They stole 647,000 BTC from Mt. Gox
- Coins were laundered through the BTC-e crypto exchange
The US Justice Department accused two Russian citizens of hacking the famous Mt. Gox crypto exchange. Recall that this is one of the largest hacks in the history of the crypto industry. It occurred in 2014, when the Mt. Gox platform accounted for about 70% of all bitcoin trading. The investigation is still ongoing, and the affected customers are still waiting for their BTC to be returned.
So, the indictment documents say the following. Alexey Bilyuchenko and Alexander Werner hacked into Mt.Gox’s servers in 2014 and used vulnerabilities in its security system to steal bitcoins. They managed to steal and withdraw about 647,000 bitcoins.
Biliuchenko and Alexander Werner are also accused of illegally operating the BTC-e crypto exchange. Through it, they laundered stolen money. Recall that this platform called itself the first Russian crypto exchange. Then it suddenly closed down, failing to pay customers.
But according to the U.S. Treasury Department, the suspects are in Russia. Bilyuchenko, meanwhile, is already in a Russian detention center, accused of stealing 3.16 billion rubles worth of cryptocurrency assets from the WEX exchange (a subsidiary of BTC-e).
The United States will seek the extradition of the criminals. Under local laws, they face up to 20 years in prison.
In the meantime, former BTC-e head Alexander Vinnik wants to be exchanged for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.