Charges have been brought against two brothers who attended one of the most prominent US universities for allegedly stealing $25 million (£20 million) in cryptocurrencies in under 12 seconds.
The 24-year-old Anton Peraire-Bueno and the 28-year-old James Peraire-Bueno are charged with money laundering and wire fraud.
According to the US Department of Justice, this is the first theft of its sort. The two, who were allegedly educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), are also accused by the prosecution of carrying it out in April 2023.
“The Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated.
She went on to say that the “first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme” was successfully uncovered in large part thanks to the efforts of Internal Revenue Service agents.
The prosecution claims that the two took advantage of Ethereum’s transaction validation procedure by using highly specialized skills they acquired at “one of the most prestigious universities in the world”.
According to the indictments, the brothers studied computer science and mathematics. Both brothers attended MIT, according to news reports.
According to the indictments, the brothers studied computer science and mathematics. Both brothers attended MIT, according to news reports.
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Referring to the public database that documents cryptocurrency payments, US Attorney Damian Williams stated in a statement on Wednesday that “the defendants’ scheme calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question.”
The brothers are accused of stealing cryptocurrency from Ethereum traders by breaking into pending private transactions through unauthorized access and then changing the transactions to take advantage of their victims’ wealth.
The procedure, known as “the Exploit” by the investigators, was completed in a couple of seconds. The brothers allegedly refused to return the money when questioned by an Ethereum representative and instead took actions to conceal and launder their pilfered profits.
It is the first time such a “novel” form of fraud has ever been the subject of criminal prosecution, according to the prosecutors. If proven guilty, each of them could spend more than 20 years behind bars.
