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Two brothers accused of stealing $25 million worth of crypto

Both of the alleged thieves are MIT grads.

“Unfortunately for the defendants, their alleged crimes were no match for Department of Justice prosecutors and IRS agents, who unraveled this first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a press release. The brothers set up a series of Ethereum validators “in a manner that concealed their identities through the use of shell companies, intermediary cryptocurrency addresses, foreign exchanges, and a privacy layer network,” according to the indictment. The brothers’ online search history in the weeks following the alleged theft included “top crypto lawyers,” “how long is us statue [sic] of limitations,” “fraudulent Ethereum access database,” and “money laundering statue [sic] of limitations.” Charging documents claim one victim and their lawyer repeatedly contacted the Peraire-Bueno brothers between April and June of 2023, as did a representative from Ethereum.

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