A hacker in the UK who took over more than 500 Coinbase accounts through phishing websites in 2018 and 2019 has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. According to several news outlets, Elliot Gunton admitted to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering outside the UK.
Sentencing for Coinbase Hackers Announced
According to a July 27 report by North Norfolk News, he and others stole over $900,000 from more than 500 Coinbase accounts when they were just 17 and 18 years old. The court was told that Gunton accessed Coinbase accounts by redirecting online login information to a fake website. Norwich Crown Court Judge Alice Robinson commented on the matter:
“This was an extremely complex crime requiring significant planning and technical expertise.”
Gunton was initially sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2019 for stealing personal data of TalkTalk customers in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto. However, he reportedly avoided prison by completing a 12-month rehabilitation order. He was also ordered to repay £407,359 after hacking several high-profile Instagram accounts.
Ponzi Scheme Dismantled in the US
Meanwhile, in the United States, a federal court ordered Abner Alejandro Tinoco and his company Kikit and Mess Investments to pay over $31 million after running fraudulent crypto and forex schemes. Tinoco is accused of accepting investment funds from clients and paying fake profits to other clients, resembling a Ponzi scheme.
The fraudsters misled victims into believing their funds were invested; instead, the funds were used to pay for Tinoco’s lavish lifestyle, including private jet rentals, a luxury mansion, and other real estate expenses.
Tinoco and Kikit and Mess were ordered to pay $6.2 million in restitution to approximately 200 defrauded victims, $6.2 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and an $18.8 million civil monetary penalty. The penalty is roughly triple the amount of illegal funds obtained from the fraudulent crypto and forex schemes, as stated in the US commodity regulator’s July 26 announcement.