Two Israeli brothers, Eli and Asaf Gigi, the first a 31 year-old "computer genius" and the second a demobilized soldier aged 22, broke into one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and stole $100 million from virtual accounts holding bitcoins.
The two brothers were arrested by the Israel Police cyber unit on suspicion of perpetrating phishing fraud on an international scale.
The Bitfinex exchange, a cryptocurrency exchange owned and operated by iFinex Inc., which is headquartered in Hong Kong, is one of the largest such exchanges in the world. In June 2016, Bitfinex reported that hackers had stolen bitcoins to a value of $65 million from it. The current investigation concerns a much higher sum, amounting, as mentioned, to $100 million.
The suspect brothers were arrested last Wednesday, and were remanded until today, when they were brought before the Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court for a hearing of an application to extend their remand. Judge Guy Avnon granted the application, and the pair will remain under arrest for a further seven days.
The judge said that the younger brother bore less responsibility than the elder, but that both represented "an economic threat" justifying their continued remand.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 24, 2019
© Copyright