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Pump.fun exploiter claims he was arrested in UK and now on bail

The ex-employee alleged of exploiting pump.fun for $1.9 million claims he was arrested and charged in Britain and is now on bail.

The former employee of memecoin creation and trading platform pump.fun — who is alleged to have carried out a recent $1.9 million exploit — claims he was arrested, charged and is now on bail in the United Kingdom.

On May 16, the X user “STACCoverflow” — who had posted and confirmed their name is Jarett Dunn — claimed responsibility for the attack which pump.fun alleges used a “privileged position” to access a “withdraw authority” and compromise the protocol’s systems.

In a series of May 18 posts on a different X account, Dunn claimed he “spent overnight in custody as the pump team alleges I stole [$2 million]” and conspired to steal an additional $80 million, adding he was “released on bail and mental health sectioned.”

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OPNX token spikes 50% after Su Zhu unexpectedly posts a ‘gm’ on Twitter

The OX token hit a price high not seen since co-founder Su Zhu was arrested in late September.

Open Exchange Token (OX), the native token of the crypto bankruptcy claims platform OPNX, spiked 50% just 20 minutes after co-founder Su Zhu supposedly posted to X (Twitter) for the first time since his arrest.

On Dec. 29, the same day he was arrested at Singapore’s Changi Airport attempting to leave the country.

In the 20 minutes after Su’s X post, OX jumped nearly 50% to $0.021 and hit a 63-day high — a price not seen since the day of Su’s Sept. 29 arrest, according to CoinGecko data.

OX token price with a spike in the minutes after Su’s X post. Source: CoinGecko

Shortly after the price peak, OX retraced by around 6%.

Su was arrested on Sept.

The order was meant to see Su serve four months’ imprisonment — meaning he wouldn’t be released until next year, though some have speculated he may have been released after a wallet labeled "suzhu.eth" believed to belong to Su (though unconfirmed) — became active again on Nov.

OPNX, short for Open Exchange, is a platform allowing for the trade of creditor claims from bankrupt crypto companies.

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SafeMoon CEO bail release goes on hold after Feds cite flight risk

Prosecutors argued SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony poses a flight risk given his alleged access to funds and overseas connections.

United States federal prosecutors have managed to put SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony’s bail release order on hold, citing flight risk and his release being a possible “danger to the community.

On Nov. 9, New York District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall stayed a Nov. 8 bail release order after prosecutors challenged a Utah Magistrate judge’s decision to let Karony out on a $500,000 bail.

Prosecutors made the challenge to Judge Daphne Oberg’s decision in New York, saying the release order was given “without consideration of the defendant’s substantial financial means and ability to flee” and added his release posed a “continued danger to the community.”

“If convicted, the defendant faces a statutory maximum of 45 years’ imprisonment,” prosecutors wrote.

“These facts all provide powerful incentives for the defendant to leverage his substantial (and opaque) financial assets and foreign ties to avoid that outcome.”

Judge Oberg’s Nov. 8 order would have permitted Karony to stay at his Miami apartment and barred him from accessing crypto exchanges or wallets, holding or transacting crypto and banned him from engaging in promotional activities.

Prosecutors however claimed the Utah court overlooked Karony’s assets when setting his bail at $500,000. They alleged the SafeMoon chief provided “almost no information concerning his finances” and claimed he can access “assets totaling millions of dollars.”

Karony also has “substantial and ever-expanding” overseas ties and has spent months outside the U.S. in Europe and the United Kingdom with his fiancée, a British citizen and resident, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors also asked the court to transport Karony to New York and have him detained there which Judge Hall will consider at a later date.

Related: SafeMoon addresses recent exploits amid SEC charges

Karony was arrested on Oct. 31 at Salt Lake City International Airport and was charged alongside SafeMoon creator Kyle Nagy and chief technology officer Thomas Smith with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also charged the trio with various fraud charges and unregistered securities sales and alleged they misappropriated funds to purchase SafeMoon (SFM) tokens to prop up its price.

SafeMoon technology chief Thomas Smith was released on a $500,000 bond on Nov. 3 and is pursuing a plea deal while the Department of Justice said Nagy remains at large.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

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Briton Wanted by US for Advising North Korea on Crypto Arrested in Russia

Briton Wanted by US for Advising North Korea on Crypto Arrested in RussiaA British national wanted with a red notice from Interpol for consulting North Korea on cryptocurrencies has been detained in Moscow. U.S. authorities allege that the man helped the regime in Pyongyang to bypass sanctions using digital assets. U.K. Citizen Sought by U.S. for Violating North Korea Sanctions Apprehended in a Moscow Hostel The Russian […]

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Bitzlato Executives Arrested in Europe, Exchange Laundered €1 Billion, Europol Says

Bitzlato Executives Arrested in Europe, Exchange Laundered €1 Billion, Europol SaysEuropean law enforcement authorities have detained four more members of the executive team of crypto exchange Bitzlato, Europol announced. According to the police agency, nearly half of the funds processed through the platform were associated with various criminal activities. Bitzlato Senior Management Targeted in Europe, Exchange Infrastructure Dismantled High-ranking executives of the recently busted Bitzlato […]

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Disgraced FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Is Now Under Arrest, Expected to Face Charges in the US

Disgraced FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Is Now Under Arrest, Expected to Face Charges in the US

Crypto outcast Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested by authorities in the Bahamas on behalf of the US. The move is the first signal that the founder of crypto exchange FTX will face criminal charges for the staggering disappearance of at least $1 billion in customer funds. United States Attorney for the Southern District of New […]

The post Disgraced FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Is Now Under Arrest, Expected to Face Charges in the US appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

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Another Member of Russian Crypto Pyramid Finiko Arrested in UAE

Another Member of Russian Crypto Pyramid Finiko Arrested in UAELaw enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates have detained a top Finiko representative, sought for his role in the crypto Ponzi scheme which defrauded thousands of investors around the world. This is the second arrest in the Gulf state of a high-ranking member of the pyramid announced in the past month. Finiko Fraudster Caught […]

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Co-Founder of Russia’s Largest Crypto Pyramid Finiko Arrested in UAE

Co-Founder of Russia’s Largest Crypto Pyramid Finiko Arrested in UAEOne of the founders of Russia’s most notorious Ponzi scheme in recent times, Finiko, is in detention in the United Arab Emirates, according to a Russian media report. The close associate of the crypto pyramid’s mastermind left the Russian Federation as the scam collapsed last summer. UAE Authorities Review Russian Extradition Request for Top Finiko […]

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Former CEO of Crypto Exchange Wex Dmitry Vasiliev Reportedly Detained in Croatia

Former CEO of Crypto Exchange Wex Dmitry Vasiliev Reportedly Detained in CroatiaDmitry Vasiliev, co-owner and former chief executive of the now defunct Russian crypto exchange Wex, has been arrested upon entering Croatia, local media reported. The crypto entrepreneur is wanted by Kazakhstan where he is accused of stealing money from an investor. Wex Executive Vasiliev Apprehended at the Airport in Zagreb Belarus-born Dmitry Vasiliev, former CEO […]

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North Korea-obsessed Ethereum dev gets 5 years for breaking sanctions

Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and a $100,000 fine for violating sanctions on North Korea.

Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum (ETH) developer has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and will pay a fine of $100,000 for attending a conference and assisting North Korea use blockchain technology in contravention of economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

On Tuesday, April 12, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York handed down the decision. Judge Castel stated that “what you see here is intentionality, a deliberate, willful intent to violate the sanctions' regime,” adding that the crime was made worse because Griffith had a “desire to educate people on how to evade sanctions.”

In September 2021, Griffith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law banning U.S. citizens from exporting any “goods, services or technology to the DPRK (North Korea) without a license from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).”

In early 2019 Griffith was unsuccessful in gaining permission from US authorities to travel to North Korea, but in April, he went anyway and visited the capital of Pyongyang for the “Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference”.

At the conference he gave presentations dressed in a North Korean suit about how the country could use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions and launder money. He also presented methods on how smart contracts could be used to benefit the country in nuclear weapons negotiations with the U.S.

In an attempt to lower his sentence Griffith's defense team provided evidence of factors which may have caused him to act irrationally. They presented a psychological assessment of Griffith which showed him suffering from both Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

His defense team said that diagnosis of OCPD and NPD explained the “obsession” Griffiths had for North Korea and is potentially what caused him to brush off warnings from his friends, family, and the government on unsanctioned travel to the country.

Related: The FBI’s takedown of Virgil Griffith for breaking sanctions, firsthand

At the hearing, Griffith was given the opportunity to speak stating he was remorseful of his actions, adding the sanctions on Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine had “shown their value” and that he had been “cured” of his “obsession with North Korea”.

The court did not appea convinced that Griffith was regretful, with Judge Castel saying:

“The fact of the matter is Virgil Griffih hoped to come home as a crypto hero, to be admired and praised for standing up to government sanctions, for his fearlessness and nobility.”

Griffith was arrested in November 2019 by the FBI, a few months after his return from the conference, he had several meetings with the Bureau regarding his trip prior to his arrest, even providing them with photographs of himself giving presentations at the conference.

North Korea has become increasingly sophisticated with its use of cryptocurrency both in evading sanctions and in using hacks and exploits to steal millions of dollars.

In January, a report by Chainalysis revealed that nearly $400 million was stolen by North Korean hackers in 2021 through exchange hacks and ransomware, employing a meticulous laundering system involving decentralized exchange swaps and multiple crypto tumblers.

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