Group of Men, One Company Indicted for Handling Stolen Coincheck XEM

Prosecutors in Japan have pressed charges against 13 people and one corporation accused of handling stolen NEM (XEM) tokens raided from the c.USD 530 million Coincheck hack in early 2018, still the biggest crypto exchange security breach in history.

At least four people were released without charge after police arrested over two dozen people on suspicions of handling stolen crypto three weeks ago. But the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office claims it has enough evidence to push ahead with criminal trials in a total of 14 instances.

Per Nikkei and Mainichi, the prosecution described those charged as men, aged between 20 and 49, and as residents of seven different prefectures.

The nature of the company involved was not disclosed, but all have been charged for suspected violations of the Act on the Punishment of Organised Crime and the Control of Criminal Proceeds. Prosecutors said the group had handled a combined total of USD 180m worth of stolen crypto.

The individuals and company involved are suspected of handling NEM tokens worth between USD 191,000 and USD 64m in the full knowledge that they were stolen from Coincheck. The transactions are believed to have been conducted on darkweb platforms.

The police investigation into the hack is still ongoing, and detectives believe that following the trail of the tokens as they were moved from wallet to wallet and swapped for other tokens on domestic and international platforms.

At the time of writing (08:47 UTC), XEM trades at USD 0.386 and is up by 9% in a day and 81% in a month. It rallied by 493% in a year.
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Learn more:
– Crypto Security in 2021: More Threats Against DeFi and Individual Users
– Lack of Crypto Regulations a Turnoff for Japanese Investors – Coincheck
– Crypto Exchange Coincheck Speaks About NFT Marketplace and IEO Plans
– Japanese Court Orders Conditional Confiscation of Coincheck Hack Funds