Police in Australia seize $1 million in cryptocurrency.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has confirmed that a convicted hacker’s cryptocurrency has been ordered forfeited by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. According to the AFP, “the amount of cryptocurrency forfeited, more than $1.2 million, is the largest Commonwealth forfeiture of cryptocurrency.”

According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), a convicted hacker “has been ordered to forfeit more than $1.66 million [Australian dollars] in cryptocurrency and cash to the Commonwealth.”

In October of last year, the 23-year-old Sydney offender pleaded guilty to a number of criminal charges. The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) “obtained restraining orders over cryptocurrency plus bank and Paypal accounts held in false names but suspected to be controlled by the man,” according to the AFP.

Last week, the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered that his 1.66 million Australian dollars be forfeited to the Commonwealth Confiscated Assets Account, including more than AU$1.2 million (US$902,276) in cryptocurrency. According to the AFP,

The amount of cryptocurrency forfeited, more than $1.2 million, is the largest Commonwealth forfeiture of cryptocurrency.

According to the announcement, the funds will be redistributed by Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews to support crime prevention, law enforcement, and community safety initiatives.

The Australian man collaborated with a man in the United States “to steal the log-ins and passwords of streaming service customers and then sold them online at a cheaper rate,” according to the AFP. The Sydney man’s name, according to reports, is Evan McMahon. Samuel Joyner was his accomplice in the United States.

The investigation began in May 2018 when the FBI referred information to the AFP about an account generator website that sold stolen account details for online subscription services such as Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu.

Following that, AFP cybercrime investigators executed a warrant at the Sydney man’s home, seizing cryptocurrency and other evidence. In April, he was sentenced to two years and two months in prison.

Patrick

Coincu News