An entrepreneur steals a million euros worth of Bitcoins from his ex partners

To wash away his humiliation of having been dismissed and to quench his thirst for revenge, a business executive turned into a hacker. He has been suspected of stealing 1.1 million euros in bitcoins from its former partners! Neither more nor less than the third largest breakage of cryptocurrencies in history in France.

At the end of an investigation by the gendarmes of the Center for the fight against digital crime (C3N), a 37-year-old Frenchman was indicted on December 22 by a Paris investigating judge for “thefts in an organized gang”, “Laundering of thefts in organized gangs” and “fraudulent access, maintenance and modification of data in an automated data processing system”. He was placed under strict judicial control. The Paris prosecution appealed this decision, demanding that he be placed in pre-trial detention.

The 30-year-old was finally arrested on his return to France, in Ouistreham (Calvados), on December 20. In police custody at the center for fighting digital crimes, he admits having stolen his old business “out of revenge” in retaliation for his dismissal. His computer and computer keys are seized. Assessment of piracy: 182 stolen bitcoins, more than 1 million euros of damage. Part of the funds has since been transferred to the agency for the management and recovery of seized and confiscated assets (Agracs). Gendarmes and magistrates are now trying to find out if part of the money has not been laundered and if the entrepreneur has not benefited from accomplices.