US DOJ Charges Three Suspects Linked to a Potential $400 Million FTX Crypto Scandal

By: Isha Das

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged three individuals, Robert Powell, Carter Rohn, and Emily Hernandez, with fraud and identity theft linked to a Sim-swap scam in late 2022. There have been speculations about their association with the notorious 2022 FTX hack, during which the crypto exchange suffered a massive $400 million loss.

The indictment reveals that the trio accessed personal information of approximately 50 people, manipulated service providers into transferring these details to their own devices, leading to the illegal access of financial accounts and crypto wallets. Notably, Hernandez managed to gain access to FTX’s crypto wallets and executed a transfer of over $400 million in digital assets using a fake ID of an FTX employee.

No explicit mention of FTX was found in the indictment. However, it highlighted the time frame of the theft coiniciding with the timeline of the FTX incident. Analytical firm Elliptic suggests that 'FTX is likely the 'Victim Company-1' named in the indictment and that the stolen assets might no longer be with the accused individuals.

Sim swap attacks surging, posing significant risks to the crypto entities by promoting phishing campaigns. Recently, even the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fell victim to a sim-swap incident.