Authorities charged Nashatka, alongside his alleged accomplice Elliott Gunton, with counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, among others. The indictment claims that in December of 2017, Nashatka conspired to target EtherDelta to obtain the private keys of its users, as well as other sensitive information, in order to steal their cryptocurrency. It also alleges Nashatka and his co-conspirators unlawfully used one victim’s identity to spoof the platform via its domain name settings, which redirected users to a fake site under their control. Police say they used their fake version of EtherDelta to log credentials of hundreds of victims, eventually stealing roughly $600,000 worth of cryptocurrency. “In addition, using this fraud scheme, Nashatka and his co-conspirators stole and additional $800,000 from a single victim on December 26, 2017,” reads a Department of Justice release. “The investigation to identify additional victims is continuing.” If convicted on all charges, Nashatka faces up to 40 years in prison, and at least $2.8 million in fines. Nashatka is scheduled to appear in court again on November 13. As for Nashatka’s alleged accomplice, Hard Fork previously reported that Gunton’s parents received suspended sentences for transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of his ill-gotten cryptocurrency during a police investigation. As well, UK police recently raised $369,000 by auctioning his cryptocurrency stash, selling it for above market rates (on average). Want more Hard Fork? Join us in Amsterdam on October 15-17 to discuss blockchain and cryptocurrency with leading experts.
