Manila: Philippine prosecutors have indicted two Russian citizens for hacking and stealing $5.8 million worth of cryptocurrency from their former employer, a Philippine fintech company.
The accused were identified by the local media as Vladimir Evgenevich Avdeev and Sergey Yaschuck
The charges
The two were charged for violating Republic Act (RA) 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. The indictment alleges the duo hacked into their former company's IT system and stole cryptocurrency.
Avdeev faces 23 counts of hacking or theft, while Taschuck faces three.
$ 5.8 m
value of crypto currency allegedly stolen by the two ex-employees of coins.phAlleged scheme
Avdeev and Yaschuck previously worked as consultants for coins.ph, a Philippine remittance and cryptocurrency platform.
Prosecutors believe the former consultants exploited their access to steal 12.2 million XRP (around $5.8 million) from a company hot wallet.
The stolen funds were then moved to an unidentified external wallet.
Probe
Coins.ph's security team discovered the missing cryptocurrency and traced it to unauthorized transfers.
An investigation revealed suspicious logins to the company's virtual private network (VPN) around the time of the theft. Avdeev previously managed the VPN administrator account.
Yaschuck's account was also linked to suspicious activity on the affected servers.
Justice (DOJ) statement
The Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) accuses Avdeev and Yaschuck of using their former consultant access to steal credentials and exploit vulnerabilities.
The DOJ further alleges the duo attempted to launder the stolen cryptocurrency through various services.
This rise is attributed to a combination of a few large-scale attacks and the overall increase in cryptocurrency value.
