The Australian court sentenced Katherine Nguyen to two years and three months in prison for the theft of 100,000 XPR in January 2018. She became the first person in the country’s history to be charged in such a case, according to Information Age.
The charges were brought in October 2018. Nguyen pleaded guilty in August 2019. In October 2021, she will become eligible for parole.
Judge Chris Craig described his decision as “difficult and distressing” and stressed that she is described as a “generous and hardworking” person.
“The criminal is always ready to help those around her. The crime committed is not characteristic of Nguyen; her moral beliefs were distorted at the moment of the theft,” he noted.
Court records show that in January 2018 she, with an accomplice, hacked the email of a 56-year-old namesake using SIM-swapping and stole his assets. At that time XRP traded at an all-time high of $3.84.
Subsequently Nguyen transferred the tokens to one of China’s cryptocurrency exchanges and converted them into bitcoin, which she then spread across several wallets.
In 2019, police executed a search on Nguyen and seized computers, phones and money. With the stolen funds, the convicted person started a business repairing designer bags and shoes.
Earlier, the 17-year-old Twitter hacker was charged with 30 counts. He faces up to 200 years in prison in the United States.
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