Two residents of the Russian city of Tomsk will be tried for a “major robbery” associated with the theft of millions of rubles worth of cryptocurrency from a local miner. The digital coins were stolen from the owner at gunpoint, authorities said, adding that both perpetrators are now in custody.
In Russia, thieves will face trial for armed robbery of a cryptocurrency miner
The Kirov Court of Tomsk will soon be trying two men for attacking another resident of a Siberian city who made a living mining cryptocurrencies. They were able to extort coins worth more than 360 million rubles at the time (more than $4.8 million) from him, according to Bits.media, a Russian cryptocurrency news agency.
The crime happened in October 2021. The attackers attacked the cryptocurrency miner when he left the house. One of them threatened him with a gun-like object and brought him back to the apartment.
Then his accomplice entered, and the two of them forced the victim to log into his account on the crypto exchange and transfer 86 to them. BTC from a wallet that had 90 BTC. It is not clear why they decided not to withdraw the entire balance.
Russian law enforcement officers managed to track down and detain one of the suspects in St. Petersburg. He has since pleaded guilty and returned the fiat equivalent of some of the stolen digital money, 35 million rubles (about $479,000 at current exchange rates). The second man was detained later.
The regional prosecutor’s office charged the attackers with “robbery committed by a group of persons on an especially large scale” under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles.
In Russia, attacks on people who own and earn cryptocurrency have become more frequent. In July 2021, armed robbers robbed a large mining farm near Moscow, stealing dozens of video cards used to mint digital currencies. Also last year, $1 million in Tether was taken away from a crypto trader in the Russian capital.
Do you think that crimes related to cryptocurrencies, like in these cases, will continue to spread with the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies? Share your thoughts on this subject in the comments section below.
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Credit : news.bitcoin.com
