Liam Conner
washington – Two brothers from New York and Boston were taken into federal custody on Tuesday, accused by prosecutors of devising a new criminal scheme to steal about $25 million in cryptocurrencies from a commonly used blockchain, according to an indictment recently released.
Anton and James Peraire-Bueno were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Investigators accused them of spending months planning their heist within the Ethereum blockchain, luring their victims and establishing shell companies to hide their illicit profits.
According to charging documents, the pair studied mathematics and computer science “at one of the most prestigious universities in the country,” which prosecutors say gave them a unique set of skills that allowed them to undertake the unprecedented venture. in a matter of seconds. James Peraire-Bueno is listed as a Graduation 2021 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The brothers reportedly began laying the groundwork in December 2022 by engaging in what investigators called a “bait” operation that targeted three specific victim traders on the Ethereum digital platform. They are specifically accused of exploiting blockchain “validators,” components vital to the integrity and security of transactions.
“By doing so, they fraudulently gained access to pending private transactions and used that access to alter certain transactions and obtain their victims’ cryptocurrency,” prosecutors alleged in court documents.
Investigators said the defendants’ plan took months to devise but just 12 seconds to execute, allegedly netting approximately $25 million from their unwitting victims.
Between April and June last year, Peraire-Buenos was accused of laundering his money through shell companies. Prosecutors said the pair even rejected repeated requests from a victim, the victim’s lawyer, and an Ethereum representative to return the cryptocurrency.
They were arrested on Tuesday and are scheduled to make their first appearances in federal courts in New York and Boston on Wednesday.
“As cryptocurrency markets continue to evolve, the Department of Justice will continue to root out fraud, support victims, and restore trust in these markets,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
The brothers’ lawyers could not immediately be identified.
