The story of the global Twitter hack in the summer of 2020 has had a sequel: British prosecutors have obtained the seizure of cryptocurrency mined by a key participant in the attack.
The court ordered 26-year-old Joseph James O’Connor to return assets worth £4.1 million (approximately $5.4 million). This means the state has gained access to 42 bitcoins and related digital assets discovered during the multi-year investigation.
The chain of events began with an unusually brazen attack , in which a criminal managed to gain control of the accounts of world leaders and entrepreneurs to defraud cryptocurrency users and intimidate celebrities.
The court’s ruling was the result of parallel proceedings in multiple jurisdictions. O’Connor was arrested in Spain in 2021 and subsequently extradited to the United States, where the key evidence and victims were located.
In 2023, a US court found O’Connor guilty of charges related to unauthorized system access, fraud, and extortion, sentencing him to five years in prison . The British side continued to pursue the assets, securing a freeze on the cryptocurrency during the extradition process and subsequently obtaining a civil forfeiture order.
The UK Crown Prosecution Service noted that even if the defendant has not been convicted in the country, existing mechanisms allow for the seizure of funds related to criminal activity.
The agency emphasized that the range of available tools has helped return a significant amount of digital assets to state control. The funds will now be transferred to a court-appointed administrator, who will manage their disposal.
The July 2020 hack became one of the most high-profile incidents in the history of the social network. Attackers gained access to the accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, as well as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Kim Kardashian, and other prominent figures.
Taking control of their profiles, the attackers posted messages encouraging users to send cryptocurrency, apparently as part of a charitable initiative.
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