US Department of Justice Announces Probe Into FTX Crypto Exchange Theft of $370 Million

US Department of Justice Announces Probe Into FTX Crypto Exchange Theft of $370 MillionA criminal investigation into a cyber theft has been initiated by the US Department ofJustice, aside from the fraud allegations against FTX's co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried; according to a source with knowledge of the case who chose to remain anonymous when speaking to Bloomberg.

Evidence seems to suggest that criminals left a trail of financial transactions and laundered their stolen assets into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) after siphoning them from the exchange.

After the US authorities discovered the theft, they were able to freeze some of the stolen assets, per an unnamed source. Nevertheless, the frozen funds only constitute a small proportion of the entire stolen amount.

If the authorities manage to apprehend the hacker, they could potentially be charged with committing computer fraud, which could result in up to 10 years of imprisonment.

On November 11, FTX, formerly the world's third-largest crypto exchange, filed for bankruptcy. It was later revealed that mismanagement of funds had caused a $9.4 billion shortfall on the platform.

Last week, Bankman-Fried was released from jail after posting a $250 million bond and is now being held under house arrest at the family residence in Palo Alto, California. This came after his arrest earlier this month in The Bahamas, when US prosecutors pressed charges against him, leading to his extradition to the country.

An investigation into the disgraced crypto boss and the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, conducted by the Southern District of New York, has led to the indictment of Bankman-Fried with eight criminal charges. These charges include wire fraud and the conspiracy to misappropriate customer funds. The entrepreneur was charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with "orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX" in addition to other infractions.

On December 13, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that a federal grand jury in New York had issued an indictment against the former founder and chief executive officer of FTX. The indictment charged him with crimes related to the phenomenal downfall of the once popular cryptocurrency exchange. This included fraud on customers, investors, lenders, and the campaign finance system, leading to billions of dollars in losses.

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