Two Japanese men arrested for buying stolen NEM from the dark web
- Two Japanese men are accused of buying stolen NEM (XEM) that are linked to the Coincheck hack.
- The police said that the accused were aware of the origin of the funds.
- The culprits reportedly bought the assets at a sizable discount in Feb and March 2018.
On March 11, the Tokyo police have arrested two men who are suspected of being associated with the Coincheck hack. They are accused of buying stolen NEM (XEM) through a dark web market, violating a law designed to tackle organized crime. According to a recent Japan Times report, one of the arrested men was a doctor from Hokkaido and the other was a company executive from Osaka Prefecture. The police said that the accused men were aware of the origin of these funds. They reportedly purchased the assets at a sizable discount in February and March 2018.
The details regarding how the police pinpointed the destination of the funds have not been disclosed. The Coincheck hack remains one of the largest crypto exchange thefts that has ever taken place. In Jan 2018, hackers stole over $534 million worth of XEM. About 100 investigators were appointed to investigate the case. Authorities are continuing investigations on other alleged buyers of the stolen NEM.
Author
Rajarshi Mitra
Independent Analyst
Rajarshi entered the blockchain space in 2016. He is a blockchain researcher who has worked for Blockgeeks and has done research work for several ICOs. He gets regularly invited to give talks on the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.
