Cybersecurity Engineer Sentenced to Prison for Stealing $12 Million in Crypto
On Friday, Shakeeb Ahmed, a cybersecurity engineer, was sentenced to three years in prison for hacking into two cryptocurrency exchanges and stealing approximately $12 million in crypto, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s press release.
Ahmed’s Background and Victims
At the time of his arrest last year, authorities described Ahmed as “a senior security engineer for an international technology company.” His LinkedIn profile indicated previous employment at Amazon, although an Amazon spokesperson confirmed he was not working there during the time of his arrest.
While one victim’s identity remains undisclosed, reports suggest that Ahmed hacked into Crema Finance, a Solana-based crypto exchange, in July 2022, stealing $9 million. Weeks later, he targeted Nirvana Finance, stealing $3.6 million, which represented nearly all of Nirvana’s funds and led to the company’s shutdown.
Attempted Negotiation and Consequences
After the Crema hack, Ahmed reached out to the company, offering to return the stolen funds in exchange for a $1.5 million “finder’s fee” and a guarantee that Crema would not report the attack to authorities. Crema refused the deal, and Ahmed was eventually caught.
This type of negotiation, known as ”white hatting,” has become more common in the crypto world, despite involving unauthorized hacking and theft. However, law enforcement views these actions differently than the crypto industry.
In addition to his prison sentence, Ahmed faces three years of supervised release, forfeiture of $12.4 million and a significant amount of cryptocurrency, and an order to pay over $5 million in restitution to the affected crypto exchanges.
Contact Us
If you have information about cryptocurrency heists and hacks, you can securely contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai using a non-work device via Signal at +1 917 257 1382, Telegram, Keybase, and Wire @lorenzofb, or via email. You can also contact The Zero Byte through SecureDrop.
1 Comment
Looks like crime in the digital world finally pays off… with a free stay behind bars!