The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Russian nationals Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner with the 2014 Mt. Gox hack, which was one of the biggest thefts in crypto history according to a DOJ press release. The two allegedly gained unauthorized access to Mt. Gox’s wallets around September 2011, stealing 647,000 BTC over the course of nearly three years and then laundering the funds. Bilyuchenko is also accused of being an operator of the now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, alongside Alexander Vinnick who was previously charged with operating BTC-e.
The DOJ also unsealed a 2016 filing focused on BTC-e, which has long been linked to funds laundered from the Mt. Gox theft. Both Bilyuchenko and Verner face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, while Bilyuchenko also faces a charge of operating an unlicensed money services business. The DOJ’s Southern District of New York and Northern District of California offices both brought cases tied to the Mt. Gox hack.
Kenneth Polite, DOJ Assistant Attorney, said in a statement that the unsealing of the indictment is an important milestone. As alleged in the indictments, starting in 2011, Bilyuchenko and Verner stole a massive amount of cryptocurrency from Mt. Gox, contributing to the exchange’s ultimate insolvency, he said. Armed with the ill-gotten gains from Mt. Gox, Bilyuchenko allegedly went on to help set up the notorious BTC-e virtual currency exchange, which laundered funds for cyber criminals worldwide.
The DOJ also alleged that Bilyuchenko, Verner and other unnamed co-conspirators used a New York-based bitcoin brokerage service to launder funds, ultimately moving over $6.6 million into overseas bank accounts. The brokerage allegedly helped launder over 300,000 BTC. The documents further alleged that the defendants sent the funds to both BTC-e and TradeHill, another defunct exchange.