Feds Charge Engineer in First-Ever Decentralized Exchange Hack Case

The U.S. Department of Justice today announced criminal charges in a case involving a hack on an unnamed decentralized exchange (DEX)—the first of its kind.

According to a Tuesday indictment, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that Shakeeb Ahmed, a top engineer at an international technology company, “used his expertise to defraud the exchange” and allegedly steal $9 million in crypto. According to the indictment, the attack took place from July 2-3, 2022.

“We also allege that he then laundered the stolen funds through a series of complex transfers on the blockchain where he swapped cryptocurrencies, hopped across different crypto blockchains, and used overseas crypto exchanges,” he said.

Though the DEX hasn’t been named in the indictment, it may be related to the Solana-based liquidity protocol Crema Finance hack that happened at that time last year, when a thief made away with $9 million in digital assets in a flash loan attack.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.