Former Microsoft Engineer Steals Digital Currency Worth $10M

Previous Microsoft employee stole digital currencies worth $10 million and was further found guilty for committing a crime more severe than a misdemeanor. Volodymyr Kvashuk is a 25-year-old citizen from Ukraine. He had been working as a software developer at Microsoft from August 2016 and was further fired in June 2018 for committing fraud.

Kvashuk took advantage of Microsofts online retail testing platform to obtain “currency stored value,” which comprised of gift cards by Microsoft and later sold them online.

He further went to steal digital currency from his ex-employer and used those funds to pay for his own expensive purchase that includes a house worth $1.6 million and a Tesla vehicle worth $160,000.

As per the records, previously, Kvashuk started stealing smaller amounts totaling around $12000. For these small steals, Kvashuk made use of his own account. On increasing the thefts, which crossed the mark and reached millions, Kvashuk started using email accounts linked with other employees.

Kvashuk used Bitcoin “mixing” service to hide the stolen funds getting untimely debited to his bank account. Approximately within seven months, $2.8 million in Bitcoin was credited to his account. To further cover the fraud, he filed a forged copy of tax return, which stated that the Bitcoin had been gifted to him by his relative.

According to the reports, Kvashuk said it during the five-day trial that he did not intend to defraud Microsoft and claimed to be working on a “special project to benefit the company.”

In the official press release by U.S. Attorney office the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) special agent-in-charge Ryan L. Korner stated,

The U.S. District Court has declared Kvashuk guilty and has sentenced him imprisonment up to 20 years from 1st June 2020.