A former software program engineer at Microsoft acquired a nine-year jail sentence Monday for an elaborate multi-million greenback felony scheme in
A former software program engineer at Microsoft acquired a nine-year jail sentence Monday for an elaborate multi-million greenback felony scheme involving bitcoin and digital present playing cards.
Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Kvashuk, 26, was sentenced within the U.S. District Courtroom in Seattle for 18 federal felonies associated to his scheme to defraud Microsoft of greater than $10 million. This marks the primary case of its sort within the U.S., in response to a press launch by the Division of Justice.
Kvashuk was concerned within the testing of a web based retail gross sales platform for Microsoft from August 2016 till he was fired in June 2018. He had used his worker entry to steal “foreign money saved worth,” (CSV), specifically digital present playing cards. He then resold that worth on-line and used the proceeds to fund a lavish life-style together with a $1.6 million lakefront dwelling and a $160,000 Tesla automotive.
What initially started as a small sum of $12,000 in CSV utilizing his personal e mail account entry, Kvashuk finally moved on to e mail accounts belonging to different staff with the intention to masks the rising thefts. Kvashuk then employed a bitcoin mixing service making an attempt to hide the supply of funds arriving in his checking account.
“Stealing out of your employer is dangerous sufficient, however stealing and making it seem that your colleagues are in charge widens the injury past {dollars} and cents,” mentioned Brian Moran a U.S. lawyer for the Western District of Washington.
Over a interval of seven months, Kvashuk’s criminal activity noticed a complete of $2.Eight million in bitcoin transferred to his financial institution and funding accounts. He then filed faux tax return types claiming the bitcoin had been a present from a relative, in response to the division’s assertion and courtroom information.
Kvashuk should now pay greater than $8.three million in restitution – the worth of CSV redeemed by third events who had bought stolen Microsoft present playing cards. The software program big was capable of block an extra $1.Eight million in CSV redemptions totaling greater than $10.1 million, in response to a courtroom memorandum filed on Nov. 2 within the Western District of Washington.
In February, Kvashuk was convicted of 5 counts of wire fraud, six counts of cash laundering and two counts of aggravated identification theft by a Jury. His sentencing concludes a 16-month trial.
The Ukrainian citizen was additionally convicted on two counts of submitting false tax returns, and one depend every of mail fraud, entry system fraud and entry to a protected laptop in furtherance of fraud, a courtroom judgment doc exhibits.
“Kvashuk’s felony acts of stealing from Microsoft, and subsequent submitting false tax returns, is the nation’s first bitcoin case that has a tax element to it,” mentioned Ryan Korner, IRS Particular Agent. “Immediately’s sentencing proves you can not steal cash by way of the Web and assume that bitcoin goes to cover your felony behaviors.”
See Authorities’s sentencing memorandum in full beneath: