A Chicago Trader Accused Of Stealing Millions In Crypto
The US authorities have accused a Chicago man in stealing Bitcoin and Litecoin from his employer, which he used later to trade in cryptocurrencies.
His name is Joseph Kim, who worked as an assistant trader in a Chicago trading firm called Consolidated Trading LLC. In September 2017, the firm enlarged its trading business and set a crypto-trading division and Kim was soon transferred there.
Kim Sent $3,25 Million To His Own Account
The obtained court documents inform, that a week after Kim was moved to the new department, he began moving Litecoin and Bitcoin funds to his own account.
Kim’s actions were noted by managers and had been accused by several times. When superiors noticed, that Kim moved approximately 980 Litecoins from the company’s account, which is about $48,000, he told them he moved the funds to an offline wallet to keep the security.
Similarly, when bosses noticed Kim transferring Bitcoin out of company wallets, Kim claimed company Bitcoin funds were blocked and he was just in the middle of taking steps to unblock the money and recover the Bitcoin.
Although, a several excuses were made, the company’s bosses noticed that cryptocurrency remained missing from company accounts almost two months.
The Company Lost Over $600,000
The company found that during these months, Kim had pumped out $3,248,000 worth of Bitcoin and $48,000 worth of Litecoin from the firm’s accounts.
Kim did eventually return $1,236,000 worth of Bitcoin on his own, but a large amount remained missing.
And that very moment, the company decided to confront Kim with their findings. He admitted to taking the funds in an email.
After the company got back another $1,457,000 worth of Bitcoin from Kim, after the representatives were sent to his home. However, there were $603,000 worth of Bitcoin still remaining unaccounted and presumed lost.
Evidence suggests that Kim traded for Bitcoin with personal funds and lost money. He’s suspected of taking funds from the company in an attempt to cover personal losses, believing be could play Bitcoin’s erratic price and recover some of his own funds, and then return the misappropriated money back to Consolidated Trading.
A warrant for his arrest was issued on February 15. If found guilty, the maximum sentence will be 20 years in prison.
