Four people have stolen R$131 million in bitcoin by exploiting a flaw in a cryptocurrency exchange. The crime is never discovered until one of the criminals does something wrong.
According to the BBC, the millionaire’s crime was only discovered because a member of the group called the police to report that her daughter had stolen 15 bitcoins from her.
“Was it that call to the police that made us wonder ‘how does this lady of modest circumstances, a small rented house, have so much money?'” ” said a police spokesman.
Upon investigating the origin of the bitcoins, authorities discovered that it was one of the largest fraud cases police in Lancashire, England had ever seen.
Bitcoin scammers doled out money on the streets and bought cars for strangers after stealing ‘more money than they can spend’
By exploiting a brokerage flaw, the scammers got so much money that they didn’t know how to spend it, even handing out the money on the street, with gift cards worth 30,000 riyals, and buying cars for strangers in the bars of the city.
According to investigations, one of the criminals, in one night, bought cars for about 20 people he met in a bar, in addition to paying 300 Brazilian riyals to taxi drivers.
“The gang didn’t know how to spend the money, they tried everything. The value was too high and probably too much for them to understand.”
“Bitcoin Billionaire”
The authorities said that one of the fraudsters began to gain fame in the city where he lived, as he was called a “bitcoin billionaire”, while keeping his wealth secret, until his partner decided to call the police to report the loss of 15 bitcoins.
“It’s the kind of thing you only see in movies and think will never happen in real life.” added the officer.
During the investigations, the police managed to recover 445 bitcoins, luxury watches, homes, cars and designer products, as well as more than 5 million in bank accounts.
Four were arrested
Kelly Caton, Stephen William Boyes, Jordan Kane Robinson and James Austin Beddoes were convicted of fraud, transfer and criminal property transfer in the United Kingdom.
The four worked with James Parker, who He planned his home scam over the course of three months between October 2017 and January 2018.the police said.
Although Parker died in 2021 before he could be sentenced, his colleagues will serve sentences of up to 10 years.