The United States Department of Justice announced to have initiated actions to return more than 154 million dollars allegedly stolen from a subsidiary of Sony by a Japanese employee, who turned it into cryptocurrency.
“We intend to return the stolen money to the victim of this daring robbery,” Acting US Attorney Randy Grossman said, according to a statement.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday in San Diego, Rei Ishii, an employee of Sony Life Insurance Company in Tokyo, it allegedly diverted $ 154 million in May when the company tried to transfer the funds from one account to another.
The money was diverted to an account Ishii controlled at a bank in La Jolla, California, and later turned the funds into 3,879 bitcoins, currently valued at more than $ 180 million, according to the prosecution for the Southern District of California.
The funds were seized on Dec. 1 following an FBI investigation, the suit added.
“All the bitcoins related to the theft have been recovered and completely preserved. Ishii has been indicted in Japan, “announced the Justice Department from the United States.
As Grossman noted, “this case is an example of the extraordinary work of the FBI agents and Japanese law enforcement officers who have come together to search for this virtual money.” “Criminals should take note: Cryptocurrency cannot be trusted to hide its ill-gotten gains from law enforcement,” he added.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx