US Files First Criminal Charges Against Smart Contract Hacker
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed the first criminal charges against Shakeeb Ahmed for an attack on an undisclosed smart contract-controlled decentralized exchange (DEX) platform, potentially Solana-based protocol Crema Finance.
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that Shakeeb, a former security engineer at an international tech company, allegedly defrauded the DEX platform of approximately $9 million in cryptocurrency.
The 34-year-old has been indicted on charges of wire fraud and money laundering as he attempted to launder the stolen funds through complex transfers across various blockchains domestically and internationally.
According to a statement by Damian Williams, Shakeeb attempted to conceal the stolen funds by engaging in a series of intricate blockchain transfers, swapping cryptocurrencies and utilizing overseas crypto exchanges. However, these actions failed to evade detection by law enforcement agencies, including Williams’ office, as they diligently traced the movement of the funds.
The wire fraud and money laundering charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years each.
The 34-year-old has been indicted on charges of wire fraud and money laundering as he attempted to launder the stolen funds through complex transfers across various blockchains domestically and internationally.
According to a statement by Damian Williams, Shakeeb attempted to conceal the stolen funds by engaging in a series of intricate blockchain transfers, swapping cryptocurrencies and utilizing overseas crypto exchanges. However, these actions failed to evade detection by law enforcement agencies, including Williams’ office, as they diligently traced the movement of the funds.
The wire fraud and money laundering charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years each.
