U.S. Recovers $154M of Bitcoin Stolen From Sony

• The United States Department of Justice has filed for a civil forfeiture complaint against a former employee of Sony who stole more than $154 million in funds from the company and converted it into Bitcoin.

• The defendant, Rei Ishii, was an employee of Sony Life Insurance Company Ltd. during May 2021 when he able to divert $154 million worth of funds when the company attempted to transfer funds between its own accounts. Ishii allegedly was able to alter the transaction instructions, causing the money to be sent to an account he controlled at a bank based in California which Ishii quickly converted to Bitcoin.

• An FBI investigation with assistance from Sony, Citibank, Japan’s National Police Agency, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, and the Japan Prosecutors unit on Emerging Crimes was able trace the funds and obtain the “private key” to the cryptocurrency cold wallet that held the Bitcoin.

• U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman commented on the situation, saying that “this case is an example of amazing work by FBI agents and Japaneses law enforcement, who teamed up to track this virtual cash. Criminals should take note: you cannot rely on cryptocurrency to hide your ill-gotten gains from law enforcement.”