A 31-year-old woman is facing legal action and is preparing to face court charges for allegedly handling $4.2 million worth of cryptocurrency. According to a report, law enforcement has revealed plans to charge her with fraud and "alleged involvement in money laundering activities."
Uncovering the Alleged Cryptocurrency Misappropriation
The investigation was launched after a complaint was filed last year by a company alleging that an employee transferred $4.2 million worth of Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin (USDT) to a cryptocurrency account associated with the accused individual.
Police revealed that the funds were misappropriated between May and August 2022, and the defendant allegedly transferred the funds to her personal digital currency wallet and used them for various cryptocurrency transactions.
According to the report, the images provided by the authorities show items that were allegedly purchased with the embezzled funds, including "white flip flops, accessories such as bags and sunglasses, and a black car" allegedly a Mercedes. Police have now confiscated the items and identified them as proceeds of criminal activity.
The woman is reportedly expected to face charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act (CDSA), with potential penalties including up to 10 years in prison and hefty fines.
Beware of cryptocurrency scams
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a consumer alert warning people to be wary of a rise in scams that use artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct fraudulent digital currency investment schemes.
The warning highlights that scammers are taking advantage of the growing appeal of cryptocurrency arbitrage trading with bold claims of abnormally high profits through AI-driven algorithms.
These fraudulent operations often promise huge returns, allegedly achieved by AI-generated algorithms, with claimed returns ranging from tens of thousands of percentage points to a purported 100% success rate.
The CFTC stated in a press release:
Scammers are taking advantage of the public's interest in artificial intelligence (AI) by touting automated trading algorithms, trading signal strategies, and crypto asset trading solutions, promising unreasonably high or guaranteed returns. AI technology cannot predict the future or sudden market changes, so don't trust scammers.
Additionally, a recent annual report on digital currency scams released by Web3 security firm Scam Sniffer highlighted the growing threat of phishing scams in the cryptocurrency industry.
Reports indicate that in 2023 alone, phishing scams resulted in the theft of approximately $300 million worth of cryptocurrency. Additionally, the U.S. Secret Service recently disclosed the seizure of approximately $500,000 in digital currency associated with investment scams originating in Southeast Asia. #加密货币盗窃 #挪用指控
