The fledging crypto sector has long been dogged by the threat of hacking and other forms of cybercrime.
But the assets also attract in-person criminals, according to the trial of a Florida man convicted of orchestrating a series of home invasions that targeted cryptoassets.
A federal jury in North Carolina convicted Remy St Felix — the alleged leader of a crew that targeted crypto investors in violent home invasions — of nine counts, including charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery, wire fraud and brandishing a firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11.
According to evidence presented in court, victims in North Carolina, Florida, Texas and New York were kidnapped, assaulted and forced to drain their crypto accounts amid violent threats.
The crew allegedly planned their robberies by first gaining unauthorized access to their targets’ email accounts and conducting physical surveillance before attempting home invasions. They also laundered the proceeds of these thefts through anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies, “instant exchanges” and decentralized finance platforms that did not conduct know-your-customer checks.
“The crimes committed by this ring of violent cryptocurrency thieves are shocking. They held victims hostage in their own homes and stole hundreds of millions of dollars from their crypto accounts,” said FBI special agent Robert DeWitt in a release.