Venezuelan police arrested two hackers who allegedly stole close to $2 million from a local crypto exchange. The two accused used obfuscation protocols to cover their tracks, but police managed to track the heist to a company they are associated with. The Venezuelan Scientific, Criminal, and Criminalistic Investigations Corps (CICPC) recently apprehended the two cybercriminals. The 34-year-old Kevin Diaz and 33-year-old Jose Manuel Mendoza allegedly stole $1.93 million worth of Bitcoin at the time of writing.
The two suspects were associated with PROINSA CA.
The accused used obfuscation protocols to cover the tracks, but the CICPC still managed to track them down. The investigative agency, Venezuela’s largest national police body, worked with national internet service provider CANTV to track them. According to the local reports, the two suspects were associated with PROINSA CA, a company whose servers Bancar exchange reportedly used. It’s not clear how the two alleged criminals were associated with the company. CICPC stated, “the accused accessed the systems, bypassing all its security and in turn carried out several transactions for a total amount of 101 bitcoins, which were not authorized by the Bancar company.”
Venezuelans turn to cryptocurrency amid increasing hyperinflation.
As reported earlier, Venezuelan armed forces have established a new facility known as the Digital Assets Production Center of the Bolivarian Army of Venezuela, which has already started mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to secure funds. General Lenin Herrera said the objective of block reward mining was “strengthening and self-sustainability of our units of the Bolivarian Army.” The South American country has been suffering from hyperinflation for a long time because of political turmoil. Venezuela continues to face sanctions from the US and other countries and cannot participate in international trade.
