36-year-old Yerevan man accused of stealing cryptocurrency worth 88 million drams

YEREVAN, December 29. /ARKA/. For the first time in Armenia, a criminal case of cryptocurrency embezzlement will be brought to court. The accused is a 36-year-old resident of Yerevan, the Investigative Committee reported.

The investigation was first launched by the National Security Service (NSS) after a resident of Yerevan, who identified himself as O..K., reported to the NSS that 129 ETH (Ethereum) worth 236 thousand US dollars disappeared from his cryptocurrency wallet under unknown circumstances.

Investigators determined that the theft was committed by a 36-year-old resident of Yerevan, a programmer by profession, who illegally gained access to O.K.'s cryptocurrency wallet on March 19, 2023 and transferred 129 ETH in the amount equivalent to 88.3 million drams to his cryptocurrency wallet, committing the theft.

He transferred part of the stolen cryptocurrencies to his other cryptocurrency wallet registered to an American company, converting them into DASH and XRP cryptocurrencies, after which he debited the account. He then made other manipulations with the cryptocurrency, transferring it to Armenian and then foreign accounts.

The 36-year-old Yerevan resident was charged with computer theft on a particularly large scale (Article 257 of the Criminal Code) and placed under house arrest with a bail of 15 million drams.

During the preliminary investigation, the accused fully compensated for the damage caused. The case with the indictment was sent to the prosecutor for further submission to the court. -0-