Ahmed was apprehended in July of this year when the Nirvana Finance protocol was compromised. Law enforcement authorities contacted the hacker due to suspicions of money laundering. Prior to the Nirvana Finance hack, he exploited a vulnerability in the smart contracts of an unnamed decentralized exchange operating on Solana. It is believed that this exchange is the Crema Finance project.
In total, Ahmed managed to steal assets amounting to $12.3 million through both hacks. As part of his plea deal, he has agreed to return the funds to the affected projects and compensate impacted users with $5 million.
“Five months ago, my department announced the first-ever arrest related to an attack on a smart contract. And today we witness the first-ever confession in a case of such hacking,” stated US Attorney Damian Williams.
According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, Shakib Ahmed utilized “sophisticated methods to launder funds, including token exchanges, transferring tokens from Solana to Ethereum, and then to Monero, as well as utilizing various cryptocurrency mixers.” The hacker could face up to 5 years in prison, with the verdict projected to be announced in March of next year.
In July of this year, the Nirvana Finance hack took place, and Ahmed successfully withdrew $3.6 million from the protocol. The project team offered the hacker a reward of $600,000 on the condition that the remaining funds were returned. However, Ahmed demanded $1.4 million, and the two parties failed to reach an agreement.