The FBI seized $180 million in Bitcoin in an investigation into money embezzled by Rei Ishii, a former employee of Tokyo-based Sony Life Life Company.
Employee Rei Ishii embezzled $154 million from the company in May.
Ishii bought 3,879 Bitcoins with the 154 million dollars he embezzled by diverting the money to his Silvergate Bank account in California. Ishii then transferred his Bitcoins to his Coinbase wallet.
After filing a complaint with the federal court in the Southern District of California, all of the theft Bitcoins were found in collaboration with the FBI and Japanese law enforcement.
The FBI said in a statement that as part of the investigation carried out, Bitcoins with a value of approximately $ 180 million were seized and transferred to the Bitcoin wallet of the FBI-San Diego branch.
The US Department of Justice said, “All Bitcoins subject to theft have been recovered.” He stated that they have started working on the return of the stolen funds.
US lawyer Randy Grossman, on the other hand, warned crypto money criminals by stating that the stolen money will be returned in his statement:
“This case is an example of the great work done by the FBI agents and Japanese law enforcement team that came together to find the Bitcoins. Criminals should beware. You cannot rely on cryptocurrency to hide your ill-gotten gains from law enforcement.”
*Not investment advice.