A Microsoft employee kept on stealing ‘Currency Stored Value’ or bitcoins in massive amounts. He built some luxuries for himself over the course and ultimately got caught for his actions.
The guy from Ukraine got sentenced to nine years in prison. All the thefts from Microsoft combined value at $10 million.
He was tasked to test Microsoft’s online retail sales platform, and as he was doing that, he got a chance to intervene in the systems and started the circle of theft. The guy had planned to sell the stolen credit for his own profits later. Sales software was designed to prevent such happenings; however, it didn’t restrict Kvashuk from purchasing the store credit.
Stealing $10 million of store credit
According to his thinking, it was a master plan with no gaps left behind to get caught and with huge profits, as it involved bitcoins worth heavy amounts. He kept on stealing the currency stored for a period of one year. The guy did some smart work, no wonder, as he sent those bitcoins via digital gift cards, fewer chances to get caught, more chances to steal.
Once done transferring huge amounts of online stored value, Microsoft’s employee went on to resell them on the internet. He used a bitcoin mixing service for selling purposes, as it was the best choice to hide the source of the massive amounts of transactions done from his bank account.
To cover his greediness and unethical deeds, Kvashuk processed through some test email accounts of colleague employees. These efforts were good enough to make it a foolproof plan. The guy even faked a tax return and claimed it to be sent by a relative.
While he was living some last good luxurious months of his life, the Microsoft employee in a span of 7 months, sent $2.8 million to his bank account, bought a lakefront home worth $1.6 million and the latest Tesla worth $160,000. The poor guy was enjoying the true highs of life!
Not Guilty Of His Deeds
Microsoft eventually got aware of the leak, and the employee’s theft cycles got uncovered. Kvashuk was left with no other option than to admit his crimes and got fired.
The latest on the story by Entrepreneur.com was that Jury charged Kvashuk on the crimes that included online wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft, false filings of tax returns, mail fraud, device access fraud, and breaching a protected computer.
Prosecutors in the sentence of crime to the Court said that Kvashuk used the theft amount to live the life of a millionaire, drove a $160,000 car, and bought a $1.6 million waterfront home.
Kvashuk’s theft cycle was filled with lies and deception at each step. He put his co-workers at the risk of getting fire by stealing CSV from their test accounts. Instead of fulfilling his duties, he testified and told a series of extreme lies. And still, there is no sign that Kvashuk feels any guilt, shame, or regret for his crimes.”