The brothers Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, were arrested in Boston and New York, respectively, for a sophisticated scheme to exploit the Ethereum blockchain and steal $25 million in cryptocurrency. The indictment, unsealed today, charges the brothers with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cryptocrime is one of the fastest-growing cybercrime segments.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled the charges against the brothers, who allegedly manipulated Ethereum’s transaction validation protocols to execute their heist within a mere 12 seconds. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco highlighted the unprecedented nature of the crime, emphasizing the DOJ’s commitment to combating fraud in evolving cryptocurrency markets. “Their alleged crimes were no match for our prosecutors and IRS agents who unraveled this first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme,” Monaco stated.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York condemned the brothers for exploiting their advanced computer science and mathematics skills to undermine the blockchain’s integrity. “This alleged scheme was novel and has never before been charged. No matter how sophisticated the fraud or new the techniques, we will relentlessly pursue those who attack the integrity of financial systems,” Williams asserted.
The indictment details how Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, leveraging their elite education and expertise in cryptocurrency trading, devised a plan to access and alter pending transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. Their exploit allowed them to siphon off approximately $25 million from unsuspecting traders. The brothers meticulously prepared over several months, studying their victims’ trading behaviors and setting up shell companies and anonymous cryptocurrency addresses to obscure their identities and the stolen funds’ origins.
If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.
