Two brothers, Anton Peraire-Bueno of Boston and James Peraire-Bueno of New York, were detained on Wednesday in connection with a huge robbery on the Ethereum blockchain, resulting in the loss of $25 million in crypto assets.
The two brothers were detained and accused with conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
According to a post by the US Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs, Anton, 24, and James, 28, were arrested on Wednesday in Boston and New York, respectively, and will appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul G. Levenson for the District of Massachusetts and U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo for the Southern District of New York.
“As alleged in today’s indictment, the Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
“Unfortunately for the defendants, their alleged crimes were no match for Department of Justice prosecutors and IRS agents, who unraveled this first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme. As cryptocurrency markets continue to evolve, the Department will continue to root out fraud, support victims, and restore confidence to these markets.” Lisa added.
The US attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams gave his account of the development from his end.