A 24-year-old trader based in Chicago, Illinois, has been charged by the United States’ federal government with wire fraud for the theft of $2.06 million in Bitcoin (Bitcoin) and Litecoin (LTC/USD) from his employer, Chicago Tribune reported.
Prosecutors said Kim, who worked as an assistant trader for Consolidated Trading LLC, transferred the cryptocurrency belonging to his employer to his personal accounts to cover his own trading losses, and lied to management about it.
When company officials finally confronted Kim in November, Kim explained through email that “until the end I was perversely trying to fix what I had already done.”
He continued, “I can’t believe I did not stop myself when I had the money to give back, and I will live with that for the rest of my life.”
Consolidated has been able to recover only some of the stolen cryptocurrency, resulting in a $603,000 loss, court papers show.
This is the first criminal prosecution in Chicago involving digital currencies. Prosecutors say Kim faces up to 20 years in prison.