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Iceland's 'Big Bitcoin Heist' Suspect Has Been Arrested
Iceland's alleged bitcoin mining computer thief Sindri Thor Stefansson, who escaped from prison last week, was arrested in Amsterdam Monday.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:52 a.m. Published Apr 24, 2018, 3:35 p.m.
Iceland's now-infamous bitcoin miner thief has reportedly been arrested.
A Dutch police spokesperson confirmed that Sindri Thor Stefansson – who is accused of masterminding the theft of $2 million worth of mining hardware in what's being called the "Big Bitcoin Heist" – was arrested in the Amsterdam on Sunday night.
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Prosecutors are now looking to extradite him back to Iceland, the News Observer reported.
Stefansson walked out of a low-security prison and traveled to Sweden last week, as previously reported. In a letter sent to Icelandic news organization Frettabladid, he claimed he was held "for two and a half months ... without evidence," and kept in isolation during his imprisonment. After his order of detention expired, he left the prison and took a taxi to the airport.
"I simply refuse to be in prison of my own will, especially when the police threatens to arrest me without explanation," he wrote to the newspaper.
Stefansson did say he wanted to return to Iceland and claimed that he had been negotiating with police to arrange his return. He also threatened to use a fake identification to stay hidden from authorities.
In his letter, Stefansson did not address the 600 computers he was accused of stealing, nor have police given any indication that they have located the missing machines. The owner of the bitcoin mining hardware has offered a $60,000 reward.
The computers were stolen across four separate thefts in what is Iceland's largest crime to date. Last month, police officials said that "everything points to this being a highly organized crime."
Police car image via Shutterstock
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