Federal prosecutors are investigating an alleged cybercrime that drained more than $370 million out of FTX just hours after the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy last month.
The Department of Justice has launched a criminal probe into the stolen assets that is separate from the fraud case against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a person familiar with the case. US authorities have managed to freeze some of the stolen funds, the person confirmed. However the frozen assets only represent a fraction of the entire loot.
It is unclear whether the infiltration was an inside job, as Bankman-Fried suggested in interviews before his arrest, or the work of an opportunistic hacker keen to exploit the vulnerabilities of a crumbling company. The conduct could amount to a charge in connection with computers fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
