A Microsoft employee who used data from colleagues to scam bitcoin and various gift cards received nine years in prison.
26-year-old Ukrainian Vladimir Kvaschuk lived in Washington and worked at Microsoft from August 2016 to June 2018. He used the personal data of colleagues to steal and then resell various gift cards.
Kvashchuk transferred his profits to Bitcoin and used mixing services to hide the origin of the funds. After that, the cryptocurrency was exchanged for US dollars and transferred to Kvaschuk’s accounts. The damage from his actions amounted to $ 10 million.
Interestingly, Kvaschuk even reported to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that he received bitcoins. True, in his tax return, the criminal indicated that a relative gave him the cryptocurrency.
This is the first Bitcoin and tax fraud case in the US, according to IRS Special Agent Ryan Korner. He noted that now the IRS has all the necessary competencies to track cryptocurrencies:
“Simply put, today’s verdict shows that you cannot steal funds over the Internet, channel them through Bitcoin and think that it covered up your crime.”
Kwashchuk was found guilty of 18 federal violations, including six cases of money laundering and two cases of filing false tax returns. With the funds received, a former Microsoft employee bought a house on the lake for $ 1.6 million, as well as a Tesla electric car for $ 160,000.
