Crypto Millionaire: Colorado Man Accused of $9M Theft

• Mark Shin, a 31-year-old man in Aurora, Colorado has been charged with theft, cybercrime, and money laundering for allegedly stealing roughly $9 million in crypto funds.
• Shin is believed to have noticed an “unintended vulnerability” in the ICON Nation cryptocurrency and took part in a scheme that drained the network.
• Shin’s defense attorney argues that he was creating new currency rather than taking property of another.

Mark Shin Charged with Crypto Theft

A 31-year-old man in Aurora, Colorado has been charged with theft , cybercrime, and money laundering at the time of writing for allegedly taking part in a scheme back in April of 2020 through his home computer. Mark Shin is accused of stealing roughly $9 million in crypto funds.

Vulnerability Discovered by Mark Shin

Shin is believed to have noticed an “unintended vulnerability in the revision 9 update” of the ICON Nation cryptocurrency. Instead of reporting this to ICON Foundation/Nation, court documents allege that he took part in a scheme which ultimately drained the network and made him an instant digital millionaire.

Defense Argument

Chris Decker, a defense attorney for Shin argued that he did not engage in thievery but saw a “golden opportunity” and chose to take advantage by changing the vote/select delegate function 558 times over an 11-hour period to mint unauthorized ICX from his personal computer. He was creating new currency rather than taking property of another.

Legal Analyst Response

George Brachler – legal analyst and former 18th Judicial District attorney – said this case is baffling and nothing like what he’s ever seen before over nearly 30 years of serving the law. He does not think that Shin’s argument will be successful because „he acts guilty“ as he created multiple accounts and tried to disguise who owns how much crypto currency he has stolen.

Conclusion

Prosecutors are claiming that Shin used a spinning service called Tornado Cash to move all the money into other wallets so as no one would know about his activities or how much crypto currency was taken away from ICON Nation network . His trial is yet to start which will decide if his actions were just those of an advantage taker or thief.