New York Computer Security Engineer Indicted in $9 Million DeFi Fraud

The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York has indicted Shakeeb Ahmed, a pc safety engineer based mostly in New York, for defrauding a decentralized cryptocurrency alternate of $9 million. The DEX, working on the Solana blockchain, stays unnamed within the indictment, however the particulars mirror the July 2022 Crema Finance hack.

Stealing (and laundering) hundreds of thousands

Ahmed allegedly exploited a vulnerability in one of many DEX’s good contracts, inserting fraudulent pricing information that resulted within the era of inflated charges, amounting to roughly $9 million. He was additionally accused of using “flash loans” to additional defraud the alternate, reportedly borrowing hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, then depositing them within the DEX’s liquidity pool, and subsequently withdrawing the funds, claiming a hefty proportion as charges.

The indictment additionally alleges that Ahmed tried to launder the stolen funds by way of intricate transfers throughout blockchains and worldwide exchanges. He tried bridging funds from Solana to Ethereum and even exchanged the illicit proceeds into Monero, a cryptocurrency well-known for its excessive stage of anonymity and issue to hint.

“Can I cross the border with crypto?”

Intriguingly, two days following the assault, Ahmed carried out web searches for “DeFi hack” and skim information articles on his personal hack. His search historical past additionally included inquiries for “wire fraud” and “proof laundering.” Furthermore, Ahmed seemingly explored escape routes, conducting searches relating to his capacity to flee the U.S., keep away from extradition, and shield his stolen property. His searches included phrases like “can I cross border with crypto,” “the right way to cease federal authorities from seizing property,” and “shopping for citizenship.”

Following the hack, Ahmed reportedly proposed a deal to return nearly all of the stolen funds to the alternate, holding again $1.5 million for himself, in alternate for the DEX not reporting the incident to legislation enforcement. His provide additionally included enlightening the DEX on their technical vulnerabilities.

This case follows one other DOJ indictment of blockchain fraud in the identical week associated to NFTs. Ahmed now faces fees of wire fraud and cash laundering, with a possible most sentence of 20 years in jail.

Editor’s observe: This text was written by an nft now employees member in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.