Man Indicted In Israel For Stealing Over $9 Million In Crypto From Roommate

According to reports by a local media body News1, on 18th of April, an indictment has been filed in Israel, against Afek Zard for his part in allegedly stealing 74.990.74 Dash (over $9 million) from his roommate. According to the data available on CoinMarketCap, the amount that has been stolen is equivalent to more than 0.85% of the total supply of Dash, that is in circulation.

News1 states that the reported victim, Alexei Yaromenko, was an early cryptocurrency investor who has been accumulating crypto assets since 2013. It was apparently he who has taught Zard about cryptocurrencies and how to trade them himself before the theft allegedly took place. According to the indictment document that was filed by attorney Giora Hazan, Zard was in possession of a key to Yaromenko’s apartment and had access to the residence in Yaromenko’s absence. The coins were reportedly there in Yaromenko’s wallet until March 1, when the price of Dash was worth $82.5 per unit. The prosecutors claim that at the beginning of the month, the defendant used the alleged victim’s computer to steal the credentials to the crypto wallets.

At this point, Zard reportedly stole the contents of Yarkomenko’s wallets either by himself or with the assistance of unspecified others — and sent them to four of his own wallets. The report also elaborates that Zard has been accused of theft in aggravated circumstances, money laundering and penetration of a computer to commit an offence.

As has been reported earlier, the Manhattan district attorney has indicted a group of individuals with allegedly selling drugs and laundering millions of dollars with bitcoin (BTC). It just seems that, though the rise of cryptocurrency’s popularity has been meteoric, to say the least, what that also entails is a steep rise in the number of illegal activities that are being carried out throughout the world. This, coupled with the fact that crypto is completely decentralized is also leading authorities to adopt more strict and stringent regulations

Rishma Banerjee

Rishma is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has a special place in her life for sifting through all sorts of random trivia, thank you very much.