78 million yen suspected of BTC theft arrested in Japan

The Japanese police detained two suspected theft of bitcoins for 78 million yen (about $ 711 thousand) from the wallet of the CoinExchange cryptocurrency exchange. It is reported by The Japan Times.

According to the investigation, the incident occurred on October 29, 2018. 25-year-old Yuto Onitsuka, at that time an employee of CoinExchange, gained access to the company's account. He transferred the data to 28-year-old Takum Sasaki, who used it to withdraw bitcoins.

He transferred cryptocurrency to two accounts managed by suspects.

Law enforcers suggest that part of the stolen bitcoins was converted into fiat money, which came into Sasaki's bank account.

According to them, he withdrew from him about 6 million yen (almost $ 55 thousand), which he spent on travel and other purposes.

Onitsuka told the investigation that he wanted to bankrupt the company he worked for, because he was dissatisfied with the management policy of CoinExchange president.

The exchange in October last year announced the cessation of work for economic reasons. In a statement, CoinExchange emphasized that the solution is not related to any hacks.

Recall that in 2018, hackers hacked the Japanese bitcoin exchange Coincheck, stealing 58 billion ($ 533 million) in the cryptocurrency NEM (XEM).