Two people were arrested in Tokyo for acquiring the NEM crypto coin, associated with the unprecedented hacking of the Coincheck exchange in 2018, which resulted in the theft of $530 million, Jiji Press writes.
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It is assumed that the detainees knew about the origin of the funds. For what purpose and in what quantity the arrested acquired NEM, is not specified. One of the men arrested is a doctor from Hokkaido, the second manages a company from Osaka.
According to law enforcement authorities, the suspects exchanged bitcoins and other crypto for stolen tokens in February-March 2018.
This is the first arrest since the Tokyo police formed a task force of 100 employees to investigate the hacking.
Note that Coincheck hack has become one of the largest in the history of the industry. After a cyber-attack, the exchange was acquired by the online broker Monex Group, in December 2018, the platform received a license from the regulator of Japan.
Recall, that a scam group based in Kyiv in 2019 lured out about $70 million under the guise of investing in crypto and stocks. Its victims were thousands of people from more than 50 countries.