US Sentences 12 in $3.5 Million Cryptocurrency Heist Involving Violent Home Invasions

The U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) has convicted 12 individuals in a collection of violent house invasions aimed toward stealing greater than $3.5 million in cryptocurrency. The group’s chief was jailed for 47 years, whereas his confederate was sentenced to twenty years. “The victims have been held at gunpoint of their house,” the DOJ said, including that one man “was kidnapped, held hostage and overwhelmed earlier than being discovered by police 120 miles (190 kilometers) from his house.”

DOJ Sentences 12 for Multistate Cryptocurrency Theft

The US Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced on Friday that twelve defendants have been convicted for his or her roles in a collection of violent house invasions meant to steal cryptocurrency.

Amongst them, Remy Ra St Felix, 25, of West Palm Seaside, Florida, was sentenced to 47 years in jail for main the assaults. The crimes included stealing greater than $3.5 million in digital property. These sentenced included quite a few people chargeable for planning and executing the robberies, which spanned a number of states.

In line with courtroom information, St. Felix and his accomplices used SIM swapping to realize management of the victims’ cellphone numbers, permitting entry to cryptocurrency accounts. After taking management of those accounts, they launched house invasions, holding the victims at gunpoint and tying them up with plastic ties. The DOJ detailed:

They compelled the person to grant entry to his laptop and cryptocurrency change account. Seemungal then remotely accessed the pc and stole over $150,000.00 price of cryptocurrency.

“Conspirators laundered the cash via cryptocurrencies that improve anonymity, in addition to via ‘immediate exchanges’ and decentralized monetary platforms that didn’t implement know-your-customer checks,” the Justice Division added.

The victims, together with households in Florida and Texas, have been held hostage, overwhelmed and threatened for hours. In line with the Ministry of Justice:

In Delray Seaside, the victims have been held at gunpoint of their house. In Homestead, a person and his household have been held at gunpoint of their house, kidnapped, held hostage and overwhelmed earlier than being discovered by police 120 miles from his house.

Seemungal, a key conspirator, was additionally given harsh sentences. “Seemungal was additionally sentenced yesterday to twenty years in jail, adopted by 5 years of supervised launch, and ordered to pay $4,038,479.39 in restitution. Seemungal pleaded responsible on December 19, 2023 for his function within the scheme to steal cryptocurrency by hacking into victims’ cryptocurrency accounts, in addition to the house invasion and theft scheme. A complete of 9 co-conspirators obtained prolonged sentences for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, whereas different key gamers have been punished for his or her involvement.

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