Israeli Man Indicted for Crypto Theft

According to local media reports, indictment proceedings have been initiated against an Israeli man named Afek Zard for allegedly stealing over $9 million worth of Dash cryptocurrencies (74,990.74 DASH) from his roommate, Alexei Yaromenko.

Stealing from His Roommate

The amount of DASH tokens stolen from Yaromenko amounted to about 0.85% of the total global circulating supply of the cryptocurrency. The victim, according to news reports had been an early adopter of the cryptocurrency, and had accumulated his assets over a period of 6 years since 2013.

Yaromenko stated that he had taught Zard about cryptocurrencies and how to trade in them before he was robbed. According to the indictment document that was filed by his attorney, Giora Hazan, Zard had acquired a key to the victim’s apartment, and had access to his home while Yaramenko was away.

According to the report, the funds had been present in Yaramenko’s wallet until March 1, when the price of Dash was at $82.5 per token. The victim claimed that Zard used his computer to steal his cryptocurrency wallet’s details.

The report further stated that Zard may stolen the cryptos himself or may have had some outside help to do so. Once Zard allegedly gained access to Yaramenko’s accounts, he sent them to four of his own wallets.

According to the filing, he created these four digital wallets in such a way that they could not be traced back to the owner (Zard). Then, to avoid being traced, Zard allegedly routed those tokens through multiple wallets.

Besides the theft of these cryptocurrencies, Zard is also being accused of stealing in aggravated conditions, money laundering as well as cyber offense (using Yaramenko’s computer in order to commit an offense).

Crypto Thefts Not Uncommon

Cryptocurrency related thefts are not uncommon. In fact, just last month, it was reported that 4 people had exploited Bitcoin ATMs in various regions of Canada in such a way that double spending could not be recognized by the systems. In the process they were successful in stealing over $200,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.

In another case, a Manhattan district attorney had recently indicted a group of people who had been using Bitcoin to sell drugs as well as launder millions of dollars in fiat currency.

In yet another case, a 33-year-old Dane was sentenced to 4 years and 3months in jail this month for allegedly laundering more than $450,000 in Bitcoin.