US Judge Demands $5.2M in Bitcoins from a Hacker

A US judge based in San Francisco is forcing a hacker to surrender his cryptocurrency and give up his sports car after accusing him of stealing funds from tech companies in Silicon Valley.

According to reports from the Department of Justice, Ahmad Wagaafe Hared, who was known as winblo online, and two other suspected accomplices, defrauded victims by substituting SIM cards from 2016 to 2018.

At the time of their venture, Hared was just eighteen years old. In 2018, the duo were detained on charges of computer fraud, identity theft and attempted coercion.

Consequently, the court is ordering for Hared to hand over 119.8 BTC (equaling to around $5.2 million) and 93,420 XLM (valued at $11,770).

He must also surrender the 2017 BMW i8 he bought with stolen funds, costing approximately $150,000.

Notably, this is not the first time a crypto investor has filed a case against an anonymous hacker as earlier this year the co-founder and managing partner of the Blockchain Capital crypto fund, Bart Stevens, sued for the loss of $6.3 million in digital assets.