Crypto Heist: Woman Faces Charges Over Alleged $4.2 Million USDT ‘Misappropriation’

Facing legal action currently, a woman, aged 31, prepares for a courtroom confrontation over allegations of mishandling $4.2 million in cryptocurrency. Law enforcement authorities have unveiled plans to charge her with fraud and “suspected involvement in money laundering activities,” according to a report.

Alleged Crypto Misappropriation Unveiled

The investigation was launched following a complaint filed by a company last year, alleging that an employee diverted $4.2 million worth of Tether’s USD-pegged stablecoin (USDT) into cryptocurrency accounts linked to the accused individual.

The police revealed that funds were misappropriated between May and August 2022, during which the accused purportedly transferred the funds to her digital currency wallets and utilized them for various transactions.

According to the report, images provided by authorities showcased items allegedly purchased with the diverted funds, including “white slippers, accessories like a bag and sunglasses, and a black car” suspected to be a Mercedes. The police have confiscated these items, recognizing them as proceeds of criminal activity.

The woman is expected to face charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes Act (CDSA), with potential penalties including imprisonment terms of up to 10 years and hefty fines, as disclosed in the report.

Warning Against Crypto Scams

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a consumer alert cautioning against the rise of scams leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to dupe individuals into fraudulent digital currency investment schemes.

The warning emphasized the rise of schemes capitalizing on the appeal of cryptocurrency arbitrage trading, wherein scammers assertively claim to yield exceptionally high profits through AI-driven algorithms.

These fraudulent endeavors frequently pledge huge returns, allegedly facilitated by AI-generated algorithms, boasting returns ranging from tens of thousands of percent to purportedly achieving a perfect 100 percent success rate.

The CFTC noted in a press release:

Fraudsters are exploiting public interest in artificial intelligence (AI) to tout automated trading algorithms, trade signal strategies, and crypto-asset trading schemes that promise unreasonably high or guaranteed returns. Don’t believe the scammers. AI technology can’t predict the future or sudden market changes.

Furthermore, an annual report about digital currency scams recently released by web3 security firm Scam Sniffer has underscored the growing threat of phishing scams in the crypto industry.

The report revealed that phishing scams resulted in the theft of approximately $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies in 2023 alone. In addition, the US Secret Service has recently disclosed a confiscation of approximately $500,000 in digital currency-related to an investment scam originating from Southeast Asia.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView