MIT brothers charged with cyber fraud

Two brothers who attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are now facing charges of exploiting vulnerabilities in the Ethereum blockchain. The two reportedly scammed $25 million in less than 12 seconds, in what prosecutors labeled a first-of-its-kind fraud.

If convicted, both men could face more than 20 years in prison.

• Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, are facing federal charges of fraud and money laundering in Manhattan.
• The charges stem from what prosecutors described as a carefully planned cyber heist carried out from computers over several months.
• They were arrested in Boston and New York on Tuesday. Commenting on this development, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said:

“The Perer Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum in a technologically sophisticated, state-of-the-art scheme that took months to plan and executed in seconds.”

• Both attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with Anton earning a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics in February, and James earning a Master's in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2021.
• Prosecutors say the brothers leveraged their advanced expertise acquired from world-renowned universities to manipulate Ethereum's transaction validation process.
• The brothers reportedly targeted Ethereum traders by illegally accessing pending private transactions and then altering them to obtain victims' cryptocurrencies.
• Authorities who met with Ethereum representatives alleged that the brothers refused to return the funds and instead laundered the funds and concealed their ill-gotten gains.