Employee embezzled $ 154 million from Sony, then converted it to bitcoin – authorities are now trying to return it | Currency News | Financial and business news

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An employee stole $ 154 million from Sony Life Insurance Company in Tokyo in May. The employee then converted the funds into bitcoin, now worth over $ 180 million. Law enforcement has since seized bitcoin and are working to return funds to Sony.

The US Department of Justice is trying to return more than $ 150 million embezzled from a Sony subsidiary and converted into bitcoin.

In May, a Sony Life Insurance Company employee in Tokyo allegedly embezzled $ 154 million into a personal account at a Southern California bank as the company instead attempted to transfer funds between financial accounts, according to a statement from press released Monday by the US Department of Justice. .

The worker, identified as Rei Ishii, then converted the money into bitcoin, the statement said.

Law enforcement agencies in the United States and Japan finally found the “private key” or password for the bitcoin address that contained the 3,879 bitcoin tokens – now worth over $ 180 million. dollars – and seized the funds on December 1.

On Monday, the United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the Southern District of California to protect Sony’s interests in the stolen property.

“Criminals should take note: you cannot rely on cryptocurrency to hide your ill-gotten gains from law enforcement,” Acting US Attorney Randy Grossman said in the statement.

The Justice Department said it received “significant assistance” from Sony and Citibank and investigated the case alongside several Japanese agencies, which allowed the United States to uncover the crime.

The US Department of Justice has also prosecuted other crypto crimes. Last month, the agency announced it would sell $ 56 million worth of cryptos seized as part of the BitConnect program, in which promoters defrauded thousands of people out of around $ 2 billion worth of bitcoin in 2017.

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