Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno were arrested in Boston and New York on Tuesday on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
If convicted, each of them faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.
Their case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation Cyber Investigations Unit in New York, with the assistance of the New York City Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The two defendants allegedly manipulated transaction validation processes on the blockchain by accessing pending private transactions, altering them, obtaining victims' cryptocurrency, and rejecting requests to return the stolen funds-instead, they took steps to conceal their illegal gains.
The indictment claims the brothers learned their victims' trading behaviors while preparing the attack and took measures to hide their identities and the stolen proceeds.
They also used multiple cryptocurrency addresses and foreign exchanges and set up shell companies.
Following the attack, they moved the stolen crypto assets through a series of transactions that would obscure their source and ownership.
Throughout the process, the brothers also searched online for information on carrying out the attack, concealing their involvement in the Ethereum exploit, laundering the criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency exchanges with lax verification procedures, hiring attorneys with cryptocurrency expertise, extradition procedures, and the crimes outlined in the indictment.
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This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Wed, 15 May 2024 18:40:05 +0000