Two men to be charged with stealing $8.3 million worth of cryptocurrencies
Two men, aged 36 and 38, will be charged in court on Aug 28 for allegedly performing unauthorised access to a computer and stealing about US$6.5 million (S$8.3 million) worth of cryptocurrencies.
The police said in a statement they received a report on Aug 22 at about 8pm stating a cryptocurrency exchange discovered multiple unauthorised logins to one of its wallets, which led to transfers of digital assets out of the account.
Through follow-up investigations and the use of cryptocurrency tracing techniques, officers from the Cybercrime Command of the Criminal Investigation Department identified the two men and arrested them on Aug 26.
Officers also identified the cryptocurrency wallets that were allegedly used by the duo.
Multiple electronic devices, including five laptops, four mobile phones, and three cryptocurrency hardware wallets were seized as case exhibits.
Around US$1.2 million (S$1.5 million) of the allegedly stolen cryptocurrency assets have been recovered thus far.
The offence of unauthorised access to computer material under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries a fine of up to $5,000, jail for up to two years, or both.
