US federal prosecutors have sent to trial those responsible for hacking the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX using SIM swap.
In late January, hearings began in Washington District Court in the case against Robert Powell, Carter Ron and Emily Hernandez.. Documents filed by federal prosecutors say the defendants are responsible for attacking “Victim Company No. 1” from November 11 to November 12, 2022 – shortly after FTX filed for bankruptcy.
The US Attorney's Office believes that Emily Hernandez impersonated an employee of the company, and Robert Powell fraudulently gained access to the data of the AT&T operator serving the company. The group took over company accounts and transferred over $400 million in digital currency from cryptocurrency wallets.
Elliptic analysts have suggested that “victim company No. 1” is the FTX exchange, since the dates and amount of stolen funds coincide with a well-known incident. Bloomberg's sources familiar with the case share a similar point of view..
Powell, Ron and Hernandez are charged with wire fraud conspiracy and theft of personal information from 50 of the company's clients.. The date of the first court hearing in the case has not yet been announced..
Previously, the interim administration of FTX decided not to restart the exchange, but instead simply reimburse investors for lost funds through a liquidation procedure.