$10M crypto fraud lands ex Microsoft employee in jail

• A former employee at Microsoft has been sentenced to prison over crypto fraud.
• He stole about $10 million in cryptocurrency belonging to his employer.

After about nine months of conviction for suspected crypto fraud, former Microsoft employees, Volodymyr Kvashuk, bagged a nine-year jail term in the latest court ruling today. According to the information on Monday, he stole cryptocurrencies worth about $10 million from his employer. Among other things, Kvashuk faked his tax form in order to conceal the crypto fraud he committed. 

$10 million crypto fraud case

Between 2016 to 2018, the 26-year-old Ukrainian software developer worked with Microsoft and was responsible for testing the online retail sales platform. On that privilege, the convicted employee stole information to Microsoft gift cards and other items he traded online. For the cryptocurrencies, he exchanged and transferred the funds to his bank account using a bitcoin mixing service in order to conceal the crypto fraud act. 

Kvashuk also used test email addresses of his co-workers to hide his dubious moves. After the seventh month of the crypto fraud, he moved a massive amount of Bitcoin (BTC) worth over $2 million to his investment and bank accounts. He falsified his tax forms to conceal the whole fraud, saying that he received the cryptocurrencies as a gift from his relatives. In total, Kvashuk stoled about $10 million in the fraudulent act, most of which he used to buy a $160,000 Tesla and a house worth $1.6 million.

Microsoft ex-employee sentenced  

Following his conviction in February this year, the Ukrainian developer will be served in jail for about nine years for 18 federal felonies. In addition, Kvashuk will forfeit about $8.3 million in restitution for the crime he committed. He might equally be deported, according to the report. The sentencing today stands to remind criminals that they could still be tracked to face due justice, not minding whether they are using cryptos to conceal their moves.