Romanian Barber Arrested for Allegedly Stealing $620K in Crypto

The man is accused of hacking "the seventh-largest cryptocurrency operator in the world."

Mar 12, 2021 at 8:41 a.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 12:25 p.m. UTC

A barber in Romania suspected of stealing $620,000 in cryptocurrency from an unnamed company in the Cayman Islands has been apprehended.

Ionel Roman, 38, from the southern city of Craiova, was arrested on March 5, and was charged with hacking, IT fraud and money laundering.
According to a statement by prosecutors, Roman launched a cyberattack on a Cayman Islands-based company, described as "the seventh-largest cryptocurrency operator in the world," in late Janaury.
The barber then transferred $620,000 worth of crypto to several people who paid him in fiat currency.
Roman withdrew this money in numerous sums of 10,000 lei ($2,449), circumventing the need to provide identity credentials, according to Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).
DIICOT seized 10,800 lei from Roman's home along with electronic equipment.

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