US Court Hands 3-Year Jail Sentence to Man Accused of Conspiring to Defraud Crypto Holders

A U.S. courtroom has sentenced a person accused of conspiring to defraud cryptocurrency homeowners to 3 years in jail. The courtroom additionally ordered the person to pay $2,816,433 in restitution to 11 victims of his Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swap fraud scheme.

SIM Swap Fraud Scheme

A United States district courtroom has sentenced to 36 months in jail a person accused of being a part of a conspiracy to defraud cryptocurrency homeowners. According to a press assertion issued by the U.S. Attorney’s workplace, the person, Anthony Francis Faulk, was additionally ordered to pay $2,816,433 in restitution to 11 victims of the SIM swap fraud scheme.

As per the Aug. 18 press statement, a U.S. federal grand jury had decided on Dec. 10, 2019, that Faulk’s conspiracy to commit wire fraud violated 18 U.S.C. § 1349. The grand jury additionally decided that Faulk’s interstate communications with intent to extort had been in violation of f 18 U.S.C. § 875(d). However, the extortion depend was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick.

Assets Worth Approximately $20 Million Forfeited

In his written plea settlement, Faulk admitted to hatching a plan to fleece and extort cryptocurrency homeowners. The plan, which was executed between October 2016 and May 2018, concerned tricking cell phone operators into giving Faulk and his accomplices Matthew Ditman and Ahmad Hared management of victims’ cellphone numbers. Once they gained management of the numbers, Faulk would use this to hack and steal their victims’ digital property.

After efficiently draining the funds, Faulk and his colleagues allegedly proceeded to extort extra money from victims by threatening to additional compromise their accounts.

Meanwhile, along with the three-year sentence and the restitution, the courtroom additionally ordered the seizure of property “constituting or derived from proceeds obtained by Faulk’s crime.” Some of the property forfeited embrace a house in Latrobe, Pennsylvania with an estimated worth of practically $1 million. Three JPMorgan Chase accounts holding greater than $18.7 million and three motor automobiles had been additionally forfeited.

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