Property Developer Charged With Stealing $3.4B in Bitcoin

(Illustration by The Actual Take care of Getty)

Property developer James Zhong pleaded responsible to wire fraud final week after he was caught with stolen cryptocurrency from the notorious darkish net market Silk Highway.

Final November, federal investigators raided Zhong’s Georgia residence and found greater than 50,000 Bitcoin in an underground protected that he stole a few decade in the past, Bloomberg reported.

Prosecutors in Manhattan just lately revealed the seizure of the cryptocurrency, which was price practically $3.4 billion on the time of the raid, although the worth has decreased considerably since.

The raid was a part of an investigation into hundreds of lacking cash traceable to Ross Ulbricht, founding father of Silk Highway, the digital black market that was in style for internet hosting myriad unlawful actions, together with cash laundering and drug trafficking.

It was the second largest crypto seizure in DOJ historical past.

Zhong was arrested final week and surrendered further Bitcoin and agreed to assist prosecutors entry the remaining cash.

In 2012, Zhong created a number of Silk Highway accounts to protect his identification, then rapidly triggered 140 transactions that fooled the platform into releasing Bitcoin into his accounts, courtroom filings detailed. Zhong then transferred these funds into different accounts of his.

Zhong isn’t required to pay restitution, as a result of the stolen cash stem from crimes dedicated by Ulbricht, based on Zhong’s plea settlement. Ulbricht is serving life in jail for numerous crimes and U.S. brokers shut down the Silk Highway market in 2013.

After finding out pc science on the College of Georgia, Zhong began RE&D Investments with Clayton Kemker in Memphis. Kemker instructed the publication that he offered sweat fairness, whereas Zhong owned 80 p.c of the event enterprise.

When initiatives started stalling after prosecutors raided Zhong’s residence, Kemker tried to purchase Zhong out of the enterprise, he stated. However a deal was by no means reached, in the end resulting in an involuntary chapter submitting towards the corporate two months in the past.

Zhong was launched on Friday after paying a $310,000 bond. As a part of his plea settlement, he signed over to the federal government his 80 p.c stake in the true property firm.

— Holden Walter-Warner

Contact Holden Walter-Warner

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